Choices of a Character - Rebooted
by ColdSpike2475
Summary: In the wake of Sugar Rush's reboot, a strange new racer appears that's fully bent on wreaking havoc on the track. Vanellope takes her rightful place as the game's leader, unaware that making her a glitch wasn't the only change Turbo had made to her game. Taffyta is still coming to terms with how she treated Vanellope all those years and the consequences of the game's restart.
1. Chapter One: The Mystery Racer

Vanellope's engine roared to life.

 _This is it, girl. A real race. A true race_ , she thought. She could sense a growing fear in the pit of her stomach. She glanced around and spotted the other racers which averted their gaze from her.

 _I can't blame them_ , she thought with an inward sigh.

It had only been a single day since everything in _Sugar Rush_ was fully restored to normal. The whole place hadn't operated as it should have been for fifteen long years. One could argue it _never_ had operated as it should.

She tried waving to a few of the racers with the warmest smile that she could muster, but all she got in return were awkward smiles and nervous glances.

 _Stupid Vanellope! First thing I do when it's restored and I joke about executing them? STUPID!_

The president of Sugar Rush wanted to bang her head against her steering wheel for being so insensitive, but she couldn't.

 **THREE**

The countdown had already begun. Even as time slowed down and she shifted into gear, time marched relentless onward.

 **TWO**

Being the leader of the game, her vehicle had been positioned in first. Ahead of the pack, ahead of her fellow racers. Ahead of everyone that she was supposed to call a friend. She adjusted her mirror and tried to catch another glance at them, but they shifted their eyes away, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

 _Focus, girl. It's just a race. You've wanted this for so long… just a race._

 **ONE**

Again she shifted into gear, yet as she did she sensed something off about the whole thing. Her fingers tapped nervously on her dashboard, just waiting for it to say go.

 _Just a race…_

 **GO! TIME TO RACE!**

Vanellope couldn't get past the starting line quick enough. She even suspected the dust from her car knocked back a few of her fellow racers before they too sped off. The first round of obstacles started up just before the others gathered near the first checkpoint.

 **CHECKPOINT! GUMBALL GORGE!**

Vanellope screamed, having to duck her head when a massive red colored ball nearly struck her head on. She breathed to calm her nerves and swerved from left to right, following along the oddly shaped track. As the name implied, it was indeed a massive gorge which forced the other racers to drive neck and neck, their cars perched up along either side of the endless hills while they did their best to maneuver through the nearly endless supply of gumball traps.

The princess of Sugar Rush glanced through her rearview mirror and saw a few racers get struck as they swerved out of control. "That's gotta hurt," she muttered then shifted into a higher gear and sped ahead.

She was still in the lead, though she wasn't about to relax. She knew how quickly that could change with how many random items and weapons which littered the track. Glancing behind her, she saw another fellow racer gunning for the lead: _Taffyta Muttonfudge_. A strawberry themed racer that usually had a bad attitude. Vanellope smirked and shifted into a higher gear, only narrowly missing a random item up ahead.

 _Time to show you what a real racer can do, Taffyta!_

As her car rammed through the floating transparent box, a tiny hologram appeared just on her hood, sorting through all the weapons the game had. Randomly it landed on a strange looking cannon constructed of candy cane pipes.

 **UH OH! STICKY SYRUP CANNON!**

Still grinning, she swirled her car around and switched to reverse. Upon seeing her new weapon, Taffyta's eyes widened in shock while Vanellope took the opportunity to spray the track in front of her, firing every last drop of the sticky stuff in an effort to stop her. Satisfied that the cannon was used up she turned around back into the lead, gunning ahead.

Smiling smugly to herself, she took a casual glance behind her and grunted in annoyance. Taffyta was still there, very much unaffected.

 _Of course, I missed her, Taffyta's car's so narrow compared to mine!_

Both racers were coming up on the second checkpoint and soon they were neck and neck. Vanellope's face morphed into a fierce determination to win, to best Taffyta at her own game! She glanced over and saw something that made her heart stop; the strawberry coated racer looked scared, frightened even. There were tears in her eyes and they clearly weren't from the wind. Was that the same Taffyta that had pushed her in the mud all those times? That had called her a worthless glitch? The same bully?

 _Is she hurt?! Taffyta… what's wrong…_

Vanellope shook her head and tried to focus on the road.

 _Can't get distracted now, it's probably fine. Everything is alright_ , she told herself, though it was more to reassure her own insecurities than anything.

Deep down, she still felt that something was wrong on the track. The two racers, still tied, flashed by the second checkpoint without a hitch.

 **SECOND CHECKPOINT! HERE COMES THE MYSTERY RACER! LOOK OUT FOR HER WRATH! SHE'LL STOP AT NOTHING TO WIN! WIN! WIN!**

"What?!" Both racers screamed in shock.

They both stuck pinkies in their ears to make sure they hadn't been hearing things. And both glanced back fearfully for what they were about to witness. For Taffyta, she wasn't really sure what to expect but for Vanellope, she feared the return of Turbo. Any strange change to their beloved game could spell disaster. What they both saw, however, was probably the oddest thing they had ever witnessed.

 _Am I dreaming? Did I drink too much root beer at Tappers and this is a dream, right?_

A strange looking racer riding on a two-wheeled contraption the likes of which neither racer had ever seen. Black licorice curves and sour candy droplets dotted the sides of the twin-wheeled vehicle along with two peppermint candy wheels surrounded again by dark coated licorice. What made the sight even stranger was the fact that said _Mystery Racer_ wasn't even on the track, she was barreling down on a nearby ice cream mountain and gaining fast.

"V- Vanellope! What the ha- hay is going on!" Taffyta screamed over to her.

Gritted her teeth and expecting the worst, Vanellope gunned into a higher gear. "I don't know! This is my first real race, remember?!"

Taffyta groaned and Vanellope could swear she heard the other racer sniffle, of all things.

 _She's crying…_ she thought. Just the mere idea that someone as tough as Taffyta was crying during a race sent shivers of fear up Vanellope's spine.

The strange two-wheeled vehicle launched off the side of the mountain and jettisoned itself forward, landing just between the two in a manner that was both impressive as it was reckless. Her vehicle bounced upwards a few times before balancing out.

Both girls looked over to the strange new racer with a sense of awe and fearfulness. Stopping the race was essentially an impossibility, at that point. The random roster race, the night time race which determined the roster for the game's next "game day" had to go on; it was essentially the law. The gamers which frequented their place in the arcade knew this and if anything screwed with that, it could spell game over for their little slice of heaven.

To go with the strange racer's theme, her helmet and clothes were all mostly black along with a massive helmet which covered her head, eyes, and hair. The strange girl turned to look at each challenger before gunning ahead into first place. Vanellope tried to glitch ahead, but it was too late. The new racer had passed right through a random item box.

 **UH OH! POP ROCKS CANNON!**

The mint themed president gulped and readied herself. _You can dodge them, it's no big deal!_

But rather than turning back to aim her cannon at either racer, as was expected of her, the mystery girl forced her bike to pop a wheelie and fired. The cannon exploded, forcing out three giant-sized pop rocks and hitting the side of another ice cream mountain dead center.

Taffyta's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. "Are you crazy?!" she screamed up ahead, but if she heard anything the strange themed racer didn't bother to look back.

The mountain rumbled and shook while the multitude of candy themed rocks exploded over and over again.

 _Not good! Not good!_ Vanellope thought, frantically trying to dodge the upcoming avalanche of chocolate and vanilla flavored ice cream goodness.

The girl on the two-wheeled vehicle waved to them then sped up ahead, narrowly missing a massive rock slide of malted milk balls which had started to pool over the track.

The teleporting racer glitched ahead, missing the balls by a few feet, gunning for the back of the dark girl's strange vehicle. Taffyta and the other racers swerved to a stop, wondering what happened to the track.

Everywhere she turned, the racer was one step ahead, always gaining the lead or blocking her from gaining first. After three minutes of this, Vanellope decided she had enough.

"Hey, barf breath! I hope you like second!" she screamed then made the perfect turn, glitching ahead of the sour coated mystery girl and gaining first.

They were seconds away from crossing the finish line. The other racer switched into a higher gear, popped another wheelie and landed right on top of Vanellope's vehicle, causing her to scream and the two to swerve out of control. They twisted and spun in circles, barreling toward a wall.

 _So dizzy…_ the raven-haired racer thought, trying to gain control of her kart again. _She is crazy… has to be…_

Suddenly Vanellope felt the other girl grab her arm and felt a bizarre sensation overtake her body. There was a spark between the two like a light switch had been turned on and bright blue glitch of three-dimensional pixels overtook the two. That's when the mystery racer teleported ahead, somehow taking Vanellope's great superpower and using it against her.

The girl landed in first and she sped off without looking back. Screaming for help, Vanellope's kart kept spinning out of control until it finally stopped, hitting a barrier dead on which caused her to ricochet across the finish line. She finished in second and her vehicle finally slowed, her vision seeing double. She moaned and stumbled out of her car, looking around in confusion while the other racers gathered around.

 _I could feel her… it was like I could feel her thoughts?!_

The announcer declared the winners on the board with Vanellope in second and Taffyta in third place, while every other child looked on in confusion at the declaration of the mystery racer in first.

"Who was that?"

"Where'd she come from?"

"She nearly damaged my kart!"

"Your kart? What about all of ours!"

"We want answers!"

Vanellope groaned all eyes focused on her. "Why are you looking at me? I don't have any answers. I'm just as confused as you are. This is what? My second race on this stupid track."

The other racers looked on in shame, but if she took notice of it, Vanellope didn't bother responding. Some looked as though they wanted to say more, but were holding things in. Ignoring all of the blank stares, Vanellope parked her car over to the maintenance garage and started to walk off toward the castle.

One of the racers stepped forward. "Wait, where are you going?"

Vanellope glanced behind her, recognizing the voice as one Adorabeezle Winterpop, an ice-themed racer that, like most of the other kids in her kingdom, she knew next to nothing about.

 _Well, I guess I know how she likes to dress. Adorable winter clothes and stuff_ , Vanellope thought. She shook her head and addressed her, "Simple. I'm going to find some answers, Winter Girl…"

* * *

Vanellope marched up to the castle, deep in thought over the strange new racer. _New racer? Weird vehicle? And this happens all after the game reset? Can't be coincidence…_ After Turbo, the denizens of _Litwak's Arcade_ had long stopped believing in silly coincidences when anything funny happened. Even a child like Vanellope knew better than that.

The girl marched up to the castle doors and slowly pushed them open. "Sour Bill, you here?" she called out.

"You rang, your maje- er, _presidency_?"

As the name implied, Sour Bill was indeed a round shaped sentient candy of the sour variety. A bright green shell with an inner dark layer would be the best way to describe him. He stood off to the side, giving the president a dull looking stare.

"Grab the licorice rope! We got a job to do!"

His eyes widened in shock. "T- the c- code room? B- but Vanellope-"

The girl quieted him down by placing her hand over his mouth. "It's not what you think, Billey. I gotta check something out. Okay?"

The green candy nodded and hurried off to go fetch some rope. Meanwhile, Vanellope had walked behind the curtain to her throne while she rummaged in her hair for something. "Let's see, candy, candy… ah ha! Key!"

Her prize was a bland looking key that shined a dull yellow. She fumbled with it and gently inserted the thing in a vault door, a door which concealed the actual code vault. "Can't believe this used to be protected by one single stupid password," she muttered, waiting for the vault to open up on its own.

With how easy it was for Turbo to gain access to the place, it was no wonder that her first real order of business was to have additional security measures implemented in the heart of the game: the code vault.

"Here we are, Vanellope," Bill said, returning with a bright red thin strip of licorice rope.

Smiling, she tied one end to herself and gave the other to Bill before inputting the new password for the code door.

"The code vault, the lifeblood of the game," she said and even whistled at the immense complexity of it all.

"Pardon me for intruding, but what exactly are you looking for in here?"

For a moment, she ignored BIll as she floated around, looking from code box to code box. "Anything that's new or different. Or out of place."

"Pardon?"

"Well… I suspect that resetting the game did more than just put me back in charge. So, what else did Turbo screw with?"

At this, Bill could only shrug. His memories had been wiped clean with the only true thing he did remember happening was how Turbo had locked away everyone's minds, along with his own. Just like Vanellope, he was looking blind.

She spotted her code box, looking a tad bigger than the last time she had seen the thing. While it wasn't as bloated as King Candy's, hers was still the focal point and was connected to far more boxes than the other racers. Being the leader of the game, that made sense.

"Something different… something strange…" she murmured, floating past her box. Then she spotted it.

The black box was hardly recognizable among the brightly lit colored boxes of the other racers, but it was certainly there. The other Sugar Rush racers were there in a full lineup, each box a different color which represented their namesake and overall theme. Taffyta's, for example, was bright pink. The black box stood off to the side, still connected in places, but not in the exact same manner as the others, or even her own.

"Mystery Racer…" she whispered, reading out the box. Her fingers trembling, she double touched the front and waited for it to open. Eventually, it let out an audible ding noise and revealed all its secrets to her, opening up and showing off dozens if not hundreds of tiny little code boxes. She licked her lips in anticipation and then gasped.

"What the hay is this? Locks?! They're all locked!"

Sour Bill spoke over a two-way communication radio, "You mean encrypted?"

"I… yeah I guess so…" she replied, sounding a tad distracted.

Curious, Vanellope floated over to Taffyta's box and double tapped it. As expected, the tiny little code blips showed up with various icons and strings of text, but not a lock in sight. "I better close this," she said and quickly did just that. While she was technically in charge of everyone there, she shuddered to think what might happen if even one box were to glitch under her command.

She tried thumbing through the Mystery Racer boxes, only to come up with more and more encrypted boxes, none of which even had a single icon beyond a tiny little eight-bit style lock. "That's one heck of a mystery racer," she noted. One thing, however, did stand out when she finally closed the window. A tiny little skull icon which had almost gone unnoticed by her.

Each and every racer had a little icon to represent them, like a Strawberry or mint ice cream. Something that made them all stand out. The black racer had a black skull, a skull that looked an awful lot like a bad mark. Something evil. Something the programmers would have purposely left in for one reason or another. Her little hands traced around the skull, trying to make sense of it until she was forced to give up.

"I got nothing, Bill. She's clearly part of our game, but it's all locked. I don't even have a real name."

"Vanellope, I understand you're curious but could you please hurry it up?" Bill said, stuttering a bit. "I hate that room and I don't want to see it fall into the wrong hands, again!"

Vanellope paused to think it over, then sighed. "You're right, sour man. I'm sorry. I… I know you're just trying to protect me."

While it was quite uncharacteristic of her, BIll appreciated the sentiment. She started to float back to the entrance when something caught her eye. The other racers were connected to other boxes since that's just how the code worked. No connection meant no function. Taffyta's had three distinct wires linked to Vanellope, along with the other racers. The mystery girl had four, one of which glitched and shimmered not unlike her own special ability. She glanced at in awe but then felt a sudden tug on her rope.

"Okay! I'm coming, I'm coming…" she said with a sigh. As she floated away, she couldn't help but glance at the fourth wire curiously. Just what could it mean? Just why was the new racer so different?


	2. Chapter Two: The Mystery Menace

Vanellope bid Sour Bill g'night and set out on her kart, figuring a midnight drive would do her some good. It had only been a single week since Turbo had been outed, removed from power and (as far as any of them knew) destroyed. A single seven days back in power, everything set right and already it felt like things were spiraling out of control.

 _What will the gamers think come game day? Another new racer? My appearance was already a crazy shock to them!_

It was true, at first, all the other racers grew nervous while the confused gamer children looked for King Candy, but after shrugging it off and choosing Vanellope as their character of choice, the other gamers were soon having a blast. No one cared about a lost King Candy when you had a brand new teleporting racer princess at the wheel. It wasn't like it was unheard of for games to go under strange new changes in the arcade and this applied to Ralph's game, _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ A brand new bonus game a had appeared seemingly overnight, but any veteran players didn't seem too shocked to see it and were far more excited over the whole thing. Explanations weren't needed, but the appearance of the mystery racer might just raise enough eyebrows to cause a problem. _Maybe_ , she thought while drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

The princess had stopped somewhere random where the road split into several other options. A wooden sign had several places inscribed on it, pointing from left to right.

 _Diet Cola Mountain_ ==

 _Game Exit_ ==

 _Race Entry ==_

 _Sweet Tooth Village ==_

Of all the places, the village had to be the least familiar to her. When under Turbo's rule, she was never allowed to even get close to the village. Not that she was a welcome sight to anyone. Shrugging some, she shifted back into drive and made a hard right after pushing on the gas. She wasn't really sure where she wanted to go, but after getting used to her new (or would it be old?) role in the game, she had been too busy to really explore. To see the places that the despicable King Candy hadn't wanted her to see.

Feeling a bit excited and a tad nervous, she pushed along, watching building after building come into view. "Time to see what I've been missing out on!"

From her car, she could just make out some lights, sounds, and music. _A party?_ she surmised. The buildings got closer and closer and eventually, she was able to confirm that, yes, the other racers were holding a celebration. "Sweet! I better get down there!"

Excitement coursed through her veins while she smiled away. "Oh, this is gonna be good. Pres Vanellope joins the party!"

 _Glitch!_

Almost immediately she pounded her foot on the brakes, her car coming to a screeching halt. Doubt began to cloud her vision.

 _Oh no! I gl-gl-gl-glitched, too!_

She closed her eyes, imagining Jubileena Bing-Bing destroying her cart.

 _You will never be a racer, because you're a glitch, and that's all you'll ever be!_

Her eyes started to feel puffy and her fingers trembled over the steering wheel. "I- it's in the past. They- they didn't mean it, girl," she tried to assure herself.

 _I told you, you're an accident waiting to happen!_

 _Say I'm you, I'm in my weird little car, and I'm driving and I actually feel kind of cool for once, and then all of a sudden, Oh-No G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g -GLITCHING!_

Long past the point of holding it in, the girl began to sniffle. She felt so angry with how they had treated her. Were they even her friends to begin with?

The vanilla racer wiped her tears on her sleeve and sighed. "I said I forgave them, right?"

Filled with doubt, she pulled up just outside the village and felt content to watch the party from the sidelines. _Not like I was invited anyway…_

Sweet Tooth Village was quite the sight to behold. Gingerbread buildings, two-story apartment complexes decorate with every candy known to the arcade. Candy cane signposts and crystal rock candy street lights string up all around. One might mistake the place for a Santa Claus village with all the ice cream snow that littered the streets, not that anyone seemed to mind.

 _It's so beautiful_.

The other racers were all gathered together under a single roof, a sort of dance club mixed in with a bar if she wasn't mistaken. They giggled, laughed, smiled and talked. Just like friends would. For a second, a split second but a second nonetheless, Vanellope almost felt like joining them. She was their president, their leader, so why shouldn't she?

She thought back for the fifteen years of being under King Candy's rule and slowly she got her answer. _They're not my friends. Friends hang out, they get to know each other. They like each other. Just like Ralph._

Just thinking about the big lug brought her spirits back up and soaring higher than she ever thought possible. He filled her with hope and so many warm and pleasant thoughts that she couldn't help but smile. Still, something nagged her about their little party. Not being invited felt like a low blow; hadn't they done enough to her already?

Pouting a bit, she turned her kart around and started to slowly drive away, though something stopped her. There, perched on a lonely mountain was a small lit up cottage, one decorated in all manner of strawberry and taffy flavored candies and treats. Confused, the racer looked back and noted that not a single place in the village was lit up except the little dance club. The sole exception being a small little two-story house, one she suspected to belong to Taffyta.

"Why was she in tears earlier?"

Hesitating and feeling like she was going crazy, Vanellope slowly inched over to the mountain and parked before shutting her kart off. "I've gotta be crazy for doing this. Nuttier than Pac-Man on a cherry binge."

She took a few hesitant steps, making footprints in the ice cream snow. The closer she got to the strange looking cottage, the worse off she felt. "This is gonna be so stupid," she murmured, but her mind was made up.

Before she could chicken out the raven-haired racer forced her hands to give a few audible knocks on the door. _Here we go, no backing out now_.

"Go away, Crumbelina! I told you already, I don't want to party! Now get!"

 _Didn't expect that_. "Uh, it's me, Vanellope," she called out and waited.

The first thing she heard was someone falling and a loud audible "oof" coming from Taffyta. She winced and waited for the racer to scramble downstairs. Then there was a quick pause and the door slowly creaked open, but Taffyta had left it at that.

"Uh, h- hi?" Taffyta stuttered in confusion.

 _Someone hasn't been sleeping_ , Vanellope noted. Taffyta gave her a tired stare and waited for a reply.

Vanellope waved. "'Sup? You been okay, Taffyta?"

The unsure and skeptical stare turned into a scowl. "Did _they_ put you up to this? Coming to check on me?" she asked rather defensively.

"What?! No! I didn't even talk to them," she argued, though Taffyta merely stood with her arms on her hips, unimpressed. Vanellope took a deep breath and continued. " _I_ just wanted to see if you were alright, okay?"

The pink racer scowled and even pouted.

"I am fine, just like I told them. Now go enjoy that stupid party or something, I have other things to do," but before she could slam the door, Vanellope's foot stopped her.

"First off, I wasn't invited," she said. Taffyta raised an eyebrow to that. "Second off, you don't seem fine, taffy brain. Y- you were crying on the track. I saw you."

 _That_ , she suddenly decided, was exactly the wrong thing to say.

Taffyta slowly opened the door and started to march forward. "You listen to me, pixel girl!" she exclaimed, poking Vanellope in the chest, causing her to glitch in several places. "I am fine, I was **NOT** crying and I don't want to talk. I don- don't care if you're our princess or president or whatever you are! Leave, now!"

The irate racer spun around and started marching back to her house. Vanellope clutched her fists in anger but held it back. _Easy girl. She's upset over something, find out what_.

"I was just checking if you were okay…"

Taffyta scoffed and glanced behind her. "I'm **fine** and I'll be even better when everyone stops checking up on me like I'm some sort of baby. Got me?!"

Shaking in fear, Vanellope could only think to nod in understanding. "Yeah, I got you…"

"Good," was all she said and turned around.

She wasn't sure what possessed her to say anything after that, but Vanellope felt it was her duty to act. "You know," she started and Taffyta stopped in place as she clenched her fist in anger. "If… if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always open." She had to resist the urge to yell out a nickname or say a quip.

 _Not like anyone but Ralph talks to me after hours, anyway_. The thought filled her with utter depression, but she had to shake it off. Things had only been back to "normal" for around a week. _They'll come around..._

Taffyta exhaled and simply gave a stiff nod before shutting her front door. Vanellope stuck her hands in her jacket and walked off in a huff. The princess gave one last longing look at the party before driving back to the castle, feeling even lonelier than when King Candy had ruled the place.

* * *

Sleep hadn't come easily to the young princess and when she finally did, her dreams were filled with strange visions of the mystery racer and a bizarre mixture of Taffyta. She barely remembered any of it when her eyes cracked open that morning. "Gameday…" she moaned.

It was strange, waking up in the castle and riding out to a real arcade game day should have excited her, but her mind was too busy putting puzzle pieces together. Why was Taffyta so upset? And what would the other gamers think of the new mystery racer… for that matter, would she even show up during a live game?

Time seemed to blur that morning and before she knew it, Vanellope and the other racers were on the track. She blinked, not seeing the mystery racer there despite her winning. _Weird…_

 **QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!**

Selecting other racers was always a strange occurrence, the first time Vanellope got to be part of it she felt strange. Almost like she wasn't in control of her body, though she could still choose to act on her own.

The players would rotate the steering wheel, sorting through all the available players for the day. With each selection, a camera would be floated over to focus on them while the potentially selected player showed off their stuff. The girl who sat down to play tried to focus on her selections, but then she gave a confuses stare.

"What's this?"

Vanellope froze, her eyes widening while she tried to not sweat bullets. _What's what?! Something can't be wrong with the game! Please don't tell me something is…_

"Hit the brake pedal to unlock the Mystery Racer?! The hay?!"

Her curiosity piqued the small girl did just that while the other racers gave each other nervous glances.

The camera and the candy person holding it almost looked confused for a moment since there wasn't anyone to focus on, that was until everyone heard the telltale sound of the racer's strange vehicle contraption. The racer sped up to the starting line as the camera zoomed in on her. Just like before, she was fully clothed in black and had a helmet which blocked her face and hair.

The girl who chose her started bouncing in her seat. "Cool! Let's do this!" she exclaimed, pushing down on the gas.

 **MYSTERY RACER CHOSEN! LET'S SUGAR RUSH!**

The other racers shook off their confusion and shrugged. If the player didn't care, then it wasn't worth their time worrying over. Granted, Vanellope still felt quite nervous over the whole ordeal. Still, all of them got into their karts while the mystery girl pushed her two-wheeled kart to the starting line.

 **3**

 **2**

 **1**

 **SUGAR RUSH!**

The race was not the horrible nightmare they all expected it to be. With another player, a child no less, in charge of the mystery kid's actions, things seemed far calmer. At first. The kid was still getting a feel for the controls on the new character and finished in fourth.

"So hard to turn! Hmm… I gotta try again!" the child said and entered another quarter.

They all went through the same motions, only this time the kid instantly picked the mystery racer. With a bit better control, the child was able to steer the racer avatar into a power-up block. That's when the trouble started.

"Huh? Where's my power up thingy?"

The kid squinted its eyes and slowed the vehicle down, trying to make heads or tales of the strange icon on the screen: a mirror with a skeleton icon just under it.

Inside Sugar Rush, Vanellope would occasionally glance back at the black racer, watching the player make random moves here and there, but she knew she had to focus or the other players might think something was wrong with the machine. That was the last thing they needed.

The child player shrugged and hit one of the power-up buttons, waiting for something to happen.

 **DOPPELGANGER MIRROR ACTIVATED!**

The mystery vehicle and the racer started to glow a bright blue-ish hue while the player looked on in awe. A few other gamers in the arcade had even gathered to watch. When it finished, the black licorice themed vehicle had shifted into an exact copy of Vanellope's kart, gummy wheels and all. The black helmet which covered the racer's face remained, but her clothing had undergone a significant alteration in the form of a familiar looking mint green jacket. Running a pure code instinct, the mystery girl flashed the camera a wave and glitched ahead in the race before giving back full control to the player.

"No way! She can change into other racers?! That's so cool!"

"Hey, I call next game!"

"Yeah, me too!"

Vanellope felt far too shocked to even think, her mind going blank. She drove along on pure instinct as she watched a copy of herself pass by. _What the hay is going on?!_

Even the players didn't fully understand, but they were all far too excited to let up. The second race went by in a blur and soon an older teenager was placing a quarter in.

"Guys, I've got an idea…"

They all booed him for picking one of the other racers at random, but he held up a hand. "Just trust me… something's up with this new racer. We gotta watch, observe."

* * *

The third race of that day started up, this time the mystery girl in full control of her own actions and that's when all hell broke loose. She was the first out, her tiny vehicle being the quickest to accelerate. Now in total control, she glanced back and tried to focus on the player character which happened to one Candlehead. Her kart was chocolate cake and mint ice cream themed, but it was her special ability that really set her apart. An ability that the mystery racer very much wanted for her own.

The teen in charge tried to catch the lead, watching the mystery racer as closely as possible. Suddenly the black racer stopped her vehicle and slowly positioned it backward, confusing everyone. Her gloved hands gripped the handlebars of her vehicle and she pulled on the gas over and over but stayed put.

"What she doing?" one of the player kids asked. The teen shrugged but kept going full speed, hoping to ram her or to do something interesting.

Then the girl released her break and popped a wheelie only inches away from the player. Everyone could only watch in confusion when the crazed racer reached out with its hand and grabbed onto Candlehead's body. A sudden bright blue glitch overtook both bodies just before the girl pushed the player backward, propelling herself forward and back into the race. She landed dead center on a powerup and inwardly smirked.

 **DOPPELGANGER MIRROR ACTIVATED!**

The teen and the other gamers could only watch in awe while the new player transformed into an exact copy of Candlehead while she drove up the spiraling hill, lighting it up with sparks from her car. Every cherry along the pathway was lit aflame not unlike a stick of dynamite.

 **UH OH! CHERRY BOMB!**

"Just like I thought," the teen player said, shaking his head in bewilderment. His Candlehead avatar crashed into the whipped cream avalanche along with a few other racers that hadn't made it far enough yet. "She's like a hard mode or something. This is awesome!"

Some of the other players didn't find it as "awesome" though it was a heated debate while more and more players played her. Some tried to argue that she was the greatest character yet since she could change into anyone and seemed to have the fastest vehicle to boot. Others felt she was like a cheater, but one thing was for sure: Sugar Rush had never been as popular with quarter after quarter forced into the machine throughout the day.

Races were won, powers were copied, cars were cloned and absolute mayhem ensued at the hands of the mystery racer. So many karts had crashed that it was a wonder how anyone was even left to drive. By the end of the night, the other racers (Vanellope included) were beyond exhaustion. They could only watch in anger as the mystery racer drove off into the night once the words "quittin' time" were uttered. It had certainly been a heck of a day for the other racers.

* * *

Shaking her head in exhaustion, Vanellope stopped off at the garage. Looking around, she spotted Taffyta speaking to one of the local mechanics before running off. The other racers were mingling and chatting each other up, almost in a good mood despite what happened on the track, but Taffyta left in a huff.

 _What's her deal?_ the princess thought.

Figuring it wasn't worth getting into, she walked over to one of the mechanics, a short looking man that only came up about twice as tall when compared to the Sugar Rush racers. He poked his shoulder and spoke up, "What's the damage on the karts?"

"Goodness, you scared me, princess. And, to answer that, not looking good," he muttered. Looking behind him, Vanellope spotted a few of the racers had lagged behind like Candlehead, Minty, and Jubileena. Each pouting and looking none too pleased. "Candlehead's will need a complete re-working of her engine. Minty needs some new tires and thanks to the little stunt that crazy new girl pulled, Jubillena's kart is totaled!"

Upon hearing this, the cherry themed racer burst out into tears while the other two tried to console her with pats on the back and a few hugs.

"Hmm…" Vanellope mumbled to herself. While she couldn't help but glance at Jubileena with mistrust, being one of the first to destroy her handmade kart, she still looked on with a bit of pity.

Kart racing always held a risk, whether it be a live game with quarters or practicing for the day. As was evident when the dreaded psybug infested their machine, no object in Sugar Rush magically regenerates when destroyed; it was only with the help of Vanellope's new friend, Felix and his magic hammer, that they were able to restore things to normal. Though a full game reset did fix the other problems. But even during live games, the only thing that comes back unscathed from the races would be the player's chosen kart.

Behind the scenes, where gamers couldn't see, karts had to be re-built and underwent real physical maintenance from new parts to washes and the occasional complete and total rebuild. It was the rebuild part that was not cheap in the slightest. The currency of choice for Sugar Rush being golden coins, earnable during races. Among other things.

No matter how much they wished it, using the kart bakery to craft a new kart meant forking over some form of coinage.

 _Be the bigger girl. You forgave them_.

Putting on a brave face and a smile, Vanellope presented herself to the three racers. "Cheer up, girls. Here," she muttered and dug around in her kart before finding her prize, three golden coins. "This should be more than enough to fix your karts," she exclaimed then tossed them to each of the racers.

The cherry girl sniffled and smiled. "W- wow. Thank you, prin- erm, president Vanellope."

"Just Vanellope's fine," she said with a wink. "Now, go fix your kart, cherry girl!"

She wiped away a few tears and then actually leaped onto Vanellope for a quick hug before skipping off. "Thanks again!"

Vanellope hugged back, a warm feeling making its way into her body. _Why couldn't you be this sweet when Turbo was around?_

"N- no problem!"

"Vanellope," the remaining racers said. "What are we gonna do about that menace on the track? Where did she even come from?!"

"Candlehead, I don't really know…" she admitted with a shrug. "She… doesn't seem very polite, huh?"

Minty scoffed while shaking her head. "Polite?! She landed on poor _Jubil's_ car and smashed the thing to pieces with that… _that_ whatever the hay she drives! You have to, I dunno, arrest her or something!"

Vanellope backed up a bit, waving her hands in the air. "Woah, Woah. Why me?"

"You're our leader, no?"

 _Apparently, that's all I am to you lot…_ Vanellope thought and scowled in Minty's direction.

"Yes, I am but I don't even know where she gets off to. We don't even know her name. The only thing I know about her is king butthead likely disabled her during his "reign"," she said, though it came out a bit more sour than she would have liked. The other girls winced. Even bringing up the word king was always a sensitive topic among the girls.

Candlehead pouted. "Yeah, well, maybe it was for a g- good reason," she stuttered nervously. "I- I don't like what Turbo did to us all, but I can't imagine why such a racer needs to be in our game!"

Vanellope started to walk off with a shrug. "Who knows. Maybe we all just need to get good? So she's a better racer and a little coo-coo in the brain doesn't mean we can't beat her!"

The two girls shared a nervous glance, watching their leader as she left.

* * *

Things began to quickly spiral out of control from there. For the entire week, the mystery racer tore up the track from both player and herself alike. By the end of that week, she had copied every Sugar Rush character, one by one. Taking their powers and vehicles for her own gain. After each race, Vanellope would check the code room for any strange occurrences, but the only change was one added wire going from the mystery racer to any character she dared copy. By the end of that week, she was connected to each and everyone in some small way, but the locks on her code remained just that: locked.

It was Saturday night and the arcade was closing, which meant a day off for everyone with the place closed on Sundays. Despite this, Vanellope and the other racers were in a particularly foul mood. They all watched as the mystery girl shifted back into her true form and raced off into the sunset, not even bothering to look back at the mess which she had made.

Vanellope could barely muster the strength to walk her kart into one of the garages. "So tired…"

"Two coins?! It's gonna cost two lousy coins to fix this mess?!"

 _That was Taffyta and a screaming Taffy girl usually spelled bad news._

"My Kart, it's ruined!" another racer yelled, Vanellope feeling far too exhausted to find out who.

 _C'mon, be a big girl and see the damage. You're their leader_ ," Vanellope reminded herself. Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked over to the other garages and gasped.

The Sugar Rush kids were all bickering and fighting. They seemed about one nasty word away from an all-out brawl.

"If _you_ hadn't made that sharp turn, none of us would be in this mess, Crumbelina!"

"What?! You've got some nerve, Rancis! I didn't see you even coming close to taking _her_ down. Hmmph!"

The two butted heads while another few fights began to break out among the crew.

"H-hey hey! Break it up, break it up!" Vanellope yelled while clapping her hands. The group gathered around her, still giving one another angry stares. "Look, I'll… uh, I'll get Felix here to fix up all your carts, good as new! And it won't even cost you any coins! Sound good!?"

They all grudgingly nodded in agreement, though Taffyta was hanging off to the side looking quite nervous.

 _I've seen that kind of look before like she's feeling guilty_ , she thought. Vanellope glanced at her for but a moment before continuing.

"Everyone! Take a break and I'll get Felix here lickety-split! Take the night off. Party or something, I dunno what you all do," she exclaimed and sighed. "I'll just be right back." The girl gave a rather big yawn while the racers slowly dispersed, everyone, muttering about the crazy mystery racer that ruined their week on the tracks.

The president felt so exhausted, she actually took a small break on her way out of Sugar Rush. She found a random jawbreaker to rest on, which gave her time to think.

 _Things are getting out of hand. What do I do? Just ask Felix to stop by daily?_ The thought had crossed her mind a few times, but she knew it was only a band-aid for the whole problem. If she was gonna get anywhere, she _had_ to talk to the mystery racer. "Easier said than done…" she muttered. No one knew where she lived, what she looked like, her name or really anything about her beyond her skill and abilities on the road. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Off in the distance, Vanellope spotted someone walking toward the rainbow bridge, leading to the exit of the game. Squinting her eyes, she could just barely make out a tad bit of pink. "Taffyta?"

Vanellope glitched off of her seat and started walking at the bridge, but whoever it actually was seemed to be quite fast on her feet. By the time she reached the little trolley station to the exit, the figure was gone. "Weird…"

* * *

The trip to Fix-It Felix, Jr. went by rather uneventfully. Game Central Station was alive and bustling with activity, being a Saturday night and all, that made sense. "Glad we live across from each other, I can barely walk. Aching feet…"

Ralph's game had a smaller trolley that wasn't nearly as flashy as her own, though she did find the smaller seats oddly cozy. "Need to find Felix…" she muttered. It took her a full thirty seconds before she even realized that the trolley had stopped. "Oops."

She jumped down and hurried into the Nicelanders apartment complex.

It took the little racer several knocks before she found his place. "Knock, knock, knock! Felllliiix, are you home?"

There was the sound of a man tripping on something as he yelped. "Jimminy, Vanellope. Is that you?"

The door creaked open and the girl glitched inside. "I need your help, Felix. And- oh, uh… um… oops?"

Vanellope had "caught" Felix with his loving wife, Sergeant Calhoun. A spunky woman from one of the arcade's toughest games: Hero's Duty. The sarge gave the little runt a raised eyebrow, egging her to go on.

"S- sorry, um, we just have a little emergency back in Sugar Rush and I need Felix to help fix it. Sorry," she repeated, her body glitching in a few places.

Calhoun stepped forward and shook her head. "Kid, relax. If it's something that needs fixin', I'm sure ol' Felix can handle it. Right, hon?"

The sergeant gave Felix a wink and nudged him over toward the glitching kid.

"Uh but, I…" He turned around and the nervous smile the little princess gave him seemed to warm his heart. He slowly picked up his golden hammer, giving her a thumbs up. Their plans could wait.

Vanellope hugged him and started pulling him out of his apartment, talking a mile a minute while trying to explain the situation.

"And then she kept wrecking our karts and I have no idea how we can afford all of this! I may be a princess, but coins don't just appear out of thin air!

They had exited back into Game Central while she talked. "Jeepers. New character? An- and you suspect Turbo had her turned off?"

"Well, I have a hunch that he did. It would definitely fit with his "MO"," she said with quotes. "Turbo liked hogging the spotlight and so does _she_."

He nodded. "Makes sense, b-but I didn't even know you could completely turn a character off. Maybe delete them," he started, making her shudder in fear. "Or, well… do what he did to ya," he noted, though he said that in a quieter manner, trying not to upset her too much.

The girl shrugged. "I'm just glad that creep is gone for good. Anyway, thanks for doing this. I- I'm sorry you had to cancel your plans," she mumbled while nervous toying with her hands.

"Vanellope, it's fine. I can see my wife any day."

* * *

"Jumpin' Jiminy, the new girl caused all of _this_ ," Felix started. He surveyed the destroyed karts in the garage as he blinked in astonishment. "Um, you sure Ralph didn't come through here?"

Vanellope snorted. "Haha, no it was all her. It's like… I dunno, she's a villain or something!"

Felix started to hammer away at the least damaged karts, knowing they'd be the easier to fix. As if by magic, the dents and holes mended themselves. "Villain? You mean like your game's "bad girl"? Wouldn't you all know about her if she was?" he pointed out.

The president blinked, tilting her head in confusion. Would they?

"Why, when we were first plugged in, we all knew our roles in the game. Ralph was the bad guy and I was the "hero". It was in our code!"

Vanellope started to toy with her hands. "He's not a bad guy, you know."

Felix chuckled while hammering away. "That's _not_ what I meant, young lady. Ralph is one of the nicest guys I know. My point is if this mystery racer was meant to be the game's villain, why wouldn't any of you remember after the memory reset?"

Vanellope huffed. "I- I don't know! Turbo had control of this place… well, I- I guess I don't remember when he took control," she admitted shamefully.

Felix stayed quiet upon hearing this for a good while before speaking. "I suppose it goes without saying that he had complete control of your game, Vanellope. He could have done anything he wanted and-"

"Except get rid of me," she pointed out then blew a lock of her hair out of her face.

"Right. We still don't know all of what he changed. The game may have reset, but maybe trying to hide that racer messed with how your base code sees her as? When we were plugged in, we knew our roles, but maybe none of you realize what her role is?"

Vanellope blinked. Was that even possible? _Well, doy you lame brain. Turbo made it so no one saw you as their princess, of course, it is!_ "B- but, he's gone! All of his stupid changes should be gone too, right?"

Felix started hammering on her own kart, making sure to be gentle with some of the more delicate parts. "Were you always able to glitch like that?"

There it was, the question that tore through her like a knife to butter. She hated thinking about that, but she very much doubted the programmer's original intention for a racer was to glitch teleport everywhere. "I guess not," she admitted with a sigh. "He turned me into a glitch and that's just who I am… always a stupid glitch," she mumbled, resting her head on hands.

Felix stopped working and walked over to her, placing his hands on her back as he rubbed it in tiny circles. "Hey, it's the greatest superpower ever. Remember? Who cares if you're part "glitch", little lady. We all like ya that way, now buck up."

She gave a hesitant smile and nodded. "T- thanks, Felix. I guess I needed that before I get all mushy on ya," she said with a slight gag.

"Mushy's not all bad, you know," he called back from the garage. She could only roll her eyes at this.

After a while, the little princess re-entered the massive garage structure, watching in awe as he fixed everything in a manner only fitting Fix-It Felix. "So, how's Ralph been? I haven't seen him all week."

Felix glanced over, noticing the little one was nervously twisting her hands back and forth. He couldn't help but smile. "He's doing great! Talks about ya a lot, you know."

Her whole body glitched. "R- really?" she squeaked. Felix just had to giggle at her reaction though it didn't go unnoticed by the pouting princess. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Sorry, you're just so cute when you're blushing," he noted, though he could swear she mumbled something along the lines of "Nah cute". "And of course he talks about ya. He thinks of ya like a best friend, maybe even a little sister, if I'm not being too bold to say."

 _Sister?!_ Vanellope wasn't entirely sure what feelings came up when he mentioned this, but shock had to be in there somewhere. Not that it sounded like a bad thing to be. They enjoyed hanging out for the little time she had been doing, so far. Was it that much of a stretch?

"So, how have the other racers been treatin' ya? Making any headway there?"

Vanellope groaned, not wanting to think about _that_ at a time like this. "No."

"About halfway done," he said, glancing back at her. The girl was again nervously toying with her hands with a heavy frown. "Well, have you tried talking with them though?"

"...Yes. I…" she started but could only sigh as she thought back to how Taffyta had reacted and it wasn't pretty. Vanellope delved into the story starting out with how Taffyta was seen crying on the tracks and confronting her. She left out details of the party, though. _I don't need help making friends and Felix has enough problems on his plate_.

"Holy Sega. Why did she get so heated at ya? You were just trying to help."

She scoffed and nodded. "Good question. I could have sworn I saw her leave the game when I was on my way to grab ya. Where the hay would she even go?"

Felix began hammering away on Taffyta's car with a few grunts. "If I had to guess? Tappers. It's where Ralph and I go when we're feeling down. Does she leave the game often- no. I wanna help ya anyway I can, kiddo. But not if it means spying on others."

The princess scoffed. "I'm not spyin' on her, Felix. I just happened to see her."

The repairman nodded while finishing up the final kart. "Whelp, that should just about do it. Anything else ya need?"

Vanellope brushed her fingers alongside her own car, admiring his handiwork on how clean it all seemed. "Got a harpoon and a net in your bag of tricks? Could use it to capture ol' wreckin' girl."

"No mam, I certainly do not. But if she's causin' ya that much trouble, why not talk to her?"

Vanellope shrugged. "As I said on the way here, no one knows where she goes after a race. Unless we start spying on her," she said with a sly smirk.

Felix literally put his foot down and shook his head in an exasperated manner. "I'll help ya repair karts, it's what friends do, but I _will_ not participate in anything like that."

"Worth a shot." She hopped onto her feet and surveyed all of the repaired karts. "You're really something special, you know that?"

There was no quips or jokes or rude barfing sounds, it was just Vanellope sounding sincere. His cheeks glowed a bright red while he waved his arms. "Ah shucks, just doin' my job. Ask me anytime!"

 _Anytime? Just like a friend..._

"Hmm, I'd feel bad if I just kept dragging you back he-"

"Ah, ah. I said it's what friends do. Though I'll have to have a talk with my honey bunch if I'm gonna come down here so much."

Her eyes widened in shock. There was no way in heck she was gonna just use Felix like that. Not on her watch. "No. That would be a cheap band-aid to this mess. Why don't we all meet up tomorrow night at Tappers or somewhere and make up a plan for the mystery menace," she exclaimed. "You, me, Calhoun and ol' Barf Brain!"

"Who?"

"Ralph," she clarified. "I- I'm not gonna use you like that and my mind is made up," she said when he tried to talk over her. "We need a plan, a _real_ plan. Alright?" she asked while holding out her tiny hands for him to shake.

Hesitantly, he smiled and shook them. Felix donned his hammer and started to walk off. "You'll make a great leader, kid."

"Thanks! Now," she said and glitched onto his back without warning. Her hands reached around his shoulders while wrapping her legs and locking them into his stomach. "Onward!"

 _That_ , he decided, was far more like the Vanellope he knew and loved. "Onward where?"

"Back to your game so you can enjoy your night, silly! I just wanna ride over to Tappers because I'm tired," she argued.

 _Piggyback rides are awesome!_ she thought, not that she'd admit it out loud.

"Well, I suppose. Why ya headin' there?"

They walked off while gently shutting the garage doors. "Need to see if little miss taffy butt is alright."

* * *

 **Anyone wishing to discuss WiR fics, story ideas or just to chat about writing, I have created a new Discord channel which can be found by sending me a PM!**


	3. Chapter Three: Drama and More Drama

Taffyta slowly opened her eyes. Her head was aching like a hammer pummeling it over and over. Her eyes hurt and yet again she felt as though sleep hadn't come easy. It wasn't a Sunday which meant no sleeping in. She hugged the heavenly comfort of her little bed for all of five glorious minutes before rolling over and forcing herself to get up. Today she was part of the random roster race, something she used to feel proud of. Now it just felt like another work day.

Her shower came quickly, unsatisfying but at least she was clean for the day. She donned her signature outfit and started brushing her hair, waiting. Checking her watch, she found that the arcade would be open in twenty minutes, leaving her just long enough to sulk and think.

 _Oh, joy_.

The strawberry themed racer could already see her day, always five steps ahead. She would give her signature catchphrase and wait while the players chose the mystery racer above everyone else. She would be forced to keep up with the mystery girl's crazy antics and to try and void interacting with _her_ at all costs, or else her kart would need even more repairs. This would go on throughout the day until closing.

Then they would all get the night off and one free day with the arcade closed the following day. That made her feel a _bit_ better, but that didn't stop the fact that racing no longer felt fun. It was merely a daily obligation. Like a job.

She could remember a time when things were so much more fun, but even after only two or so weeks from the reset, they felt like nothing but a distant, fading memory. Inside she merely felt cold. She closed her eyes and thought back, unable to resist the alluring urge, because nostalgia was a powerful emotion.

" _Hey, glitch! I heard you tried breaking into the kart bakery again, how'd that work out for ya? Oh, wait, I don't see a kart. Better luck next time, you little freak!"_

Taffyta gasped while clutching her heart in anger. How could she say something so crude?! What the hay was wrong with her. She had said such hurtful things in the past, and she _liked_ saying them.

" _Y- you've got some nerve just waltzing into town. You're not welcome here, glitch!"_

Her fists tightened to the point of causing pain from her fingernails. She had said it and meant it. Vanellope had been shoved by her own hand on numerous occasions, and she had _wanted_ to do it.

" _What da say, Vanellope? You smell so bad my ears melted off!"_

" _Oh, Vanellope. It's so… you."_

" _Wanna come inside, Vanellope? Oh, wait, we just cleaned up and I wouldn't want a klutzy glitch to make a mess!"_

The taffy girl started to tear up while she panted for air. All of that had been her. Vanellope had just wanted to be friends, to feel like she belonged. _I don't deserve kindness…_

Taffyta whimpered and took a few steps to find something to take her mind off of such awful memories, but they kept pouring in.

" _Hmm, are those your clothes?"_

 _The raven-haired girl nodded. "Y- yeah, why?"_

" _I think it's missing something… what could it be…" Taffyta wondered out loud, casually suckling on a sucker. She walked around the nervous girl, looking to her jacket and inspecting her hair. "Oh, I think I know," she stated confidently._

 _Vanellope tilted her head in confusion._

" _This!" The girl nearly shrieked and surprised the poor girl by dumping an entire bucket of chocolate fudge on her head. The stuff splattered everywhere, getting her clothes and hair drenched with the stuff._

" _Much better, it really screams you!"_

Taffyta could barely remember the rest of that day, only the clear picture of Vanellope crying and running away while everyone else stared and laughed, including herself. She was horrified of her past actions.

"I- I'm just a bully. Ha. T- that's all I am," she said, sniffling several times. A few tears leaked out as she glanced at a nearby shelf. On it held several first place trophies and other little achievements from over the years of Sugar Rush.

Each one plastered with the words _Taffyta Muttonfudge Number One Racer_.

Over and over vivid images of her past came back to haunt her. Each and every mean thing she had ever done to the poor girl, taunting her. On the verge of outright crying, she did the only thing she could think of to make her feel better. With a shaky hand, the strawberry girl grabbed several of her trophies and hurled them across the room, shattering several glass cases in the process. In a fit of rage, she yanked them from the glass and began throwing them on the ground, again and again. Picking them up and quickly tossing them hard until they too lay in pieces.

She didn't deserve them. She was nothing but the game's stupid bully. She was not the number one racer.

By the end of it, her small living room was completely trashed. Broken trophies and medals lay strewn about among glass pieces and old photographs now clear of their cases. Taffyta clenched her fists and cracked her jaw. She no longer felt like crying. Nor did she even feel like racing, though she knew that was her obligation for the day. Her punishment for who she was.

 _I'm a monster…_ she thought.

* * *

It was morning in the arcade and Taffyta and long since wiped away any tears. _Time to put on a show, for the player's sake. Yay…_

It was the same every day for the past two weeks. The players would only choose between the dreaded mystery girl, or Vanellope herself. Which meant a full day of work.

When chosen by a player, it was almost like taking a ten-minute break since all actions were automatic; in a way it was bliss.

But when you had to race against a real player, you had to bring your "A" game and had to make sure you were careful so your kart didn't get ruined. Something that was much easier said than done now that the mystery menace was there for every single race.

Being a real race, there were no actual virtual stands with no one to cheer the players on. It was just silence along with the occasional player cheer when chosen, broken up by the standard Sugar Rush anthem in the background. Already she felt the day had gone on long enough. Taffyta purposely looked away from the president, waiting. Always just waiting.

 **The Mystery Racer!**

Still waiting, even when the blasted mystery girl took her spot, waiting for the countdown. For a brief moment, lasting maybe a few solid seconds, Taffyta could swear the strange black licorice girl made eye contact with her. Though it was difficult to tell, hidden behind a large helmet. Everyone still knew next to nothing about the stupid racer.

 **3**

 _She's shorter than us, she likes wrecking karts and I hate her. Does that count?_

 **2**

 _Just like you hated Vanellope…_

 **1**

…

 **TIME TO SUGAR RUSH!**

Without even thinking and in a fit of rage, Taffyta slammed her foot on the gas pedal and sprang forward past everyone else. It was shocking, to say the least, though her lead didn't last too long. Players had been getting much better with the strange girl and knew that her weird kart was the fastest.

Suddenly the black hooded figure did a trick on her bike, narrowly missing Taffyta and her kart by inches.

 _It's gonna be a long day…_

* * *

By the time the arcade had closed, Taffyta, along with her other fellow Sugar Rush racers were beyond exhausted. Several of the karts had certainly seen better days, her own included. She barely registered walking the poor thing to the maintenance garage but glancing down filled her with a bit of despair. Her windshield was broken, one tire was nearly lopsided and the thing was a smoking mess of broken parts. Glancing around, the other vehicles weren't in any better condition.

Sighing, she tiptoed over to the main mechanic and tapped his shoulders. "Uh, e- excuse me. But my kart needs work."

The man smiled and nodded. "I guess you're first then, looks like it's gonna be a long night."

Taffyta nodded in agreement. _I've had so many of those. So tired…_

The man walked around her kart, murmuring to himself while checking off things from his clipboard. "Erm, here's the bill," he said and handed her a small slip.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Two coins?! It's gonna cost two lousy coins to fix this mess?!" she screamed.

The man nodded. "Sorry, but them's the brakes. Now, uh, excuse me," he said and started examining the rest of the place.

She was still in shock when several other racers started bickering amongst each other. Screaming about turns and other nasty things about the mystery girl, but she barely paid attention.

"H-hey hey! Break it up, break it up!" Vanellope yelled while clapping her hands. The group gathered around her, still giving one another angry stares. "Look, I'll… uh, I'll get Felix here to fix up all your carts, good as new! And it won't even cost you any coins! Sound good!?"

Taffyta blinked out of her thoughts and stared at Vanellope for a good long while. She hadn't expected her to be so generous.

 _You don't deserve her kindness, you brat. She's just helping everyone to shut them all up_ , she reminded herself. _She tried to talk to you and all you did was scream in her face_.

Swallowing a few tears, Taffyta quickly left her kart and started walking away. She wasn't needed after hours on Saturday night, anyway. _No random roster race on Saturdays_ , she noted.

To the untrained eye, it would seem like she was merely wondering around, barely paying attention to her surroundings, but really she was heading for the game's exit.

 _Need something to drink…_

It had become a habit of hers, almost an addiction. _Tappers_ was a well-known establishment in Game Central Station for other game characters to congregate. Or to just have a drink and relax. And while she certainly didn't feel like she deserved to relax, she knew that a good stiff root beer would help her sleep that night.

Vanellope had things handled with their karts. After all, she was their leader. It's what she did.

 _A leader you left out in the cold and bullied for years_ , she reminded herself. The girl stopped in her tracks and bit her lip. She wanted to reason with herself, but no arguments seemed to surface. She had done that to Vanellope. She had been the ringleader, the racer that everyone else looked up to. They all followed her and were glad to make the glitch know her place.

"A- all because of me," she said with a whimper. She kept walking and soon she was on the little trolley out of Sugar Rush. On the verge of tears for perhaps the tenth time in a single day, she quickly slapped herself and shook her head. She'd had enough crying for an entire week.

Tappers couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

"You know, Taffyta, that's gotta be your third root beer. You sure you can handle anymore?"

Taffyta glanced up, as she did the world seemed to spin around as her vision doubled and re-focused several times. The short stubby little man frowned up at her, waiting for a reply. "I- I can han- handl- handle ju- jus fine," she slurred slightly. Several times her body froze so she could burp or hiccup.

Still looking skeptical, the man raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Why do you come here, anyway?"

"Hmm?"

"Look, it's pretty rare to have game children come here alone. I mean, I've seen them come in groups sometimes, but you just look depressed. Like you're holdin' something in? You've talked a _bit_ about your problems with me before, but you're so tight-lipped… I dunno."

Ordinarily, she would have told him to shove it, but three full root beers and she started to feel a tad giddy, happy even. She stuck her mouth in her massive straw and downed the rest of her drink, the bubbles and nice vanilla aroma going straight to her head.

"Y- you really wanna k- know?" she asked with a slight smile.

The man shrugged. "Only if you wanna share. Not gonna force ya or anythin'."

"F- fourth rootb- beer," she slurred. "O- on da h- house. T- then I'll s- spill t- the beans," she stated and then suddenly broke out into a fit of giggles. The funny looking man shook his head.

"Programmers, give me strength," he said. Despite his better judgment, the man poured her another glass and gently set it on the table.

Taffyta smiled, her problems feeling a million miles away. She casually began to sip even more and then started to speak, "U- used t- to b- be the b- bes- bestest racer around!" she exclaimed. It was strange, but controlling the volume of her voice seemed like an impossible task, but for some reason, it didn't seem to bother her.

"Bestest?" he asked and she simply nodded. "Right. I take it someone's stepped up to bat. Ran ya out of first?"

"T- t- the m- myste- mystery girl!" she blurted out. Her mind first shot to Vanellope, but she felt so angry at the stupid new racer that she didn't have the heart to blame their leader.

"Mystery girl? That like a new feature of your game or…?"

Taffyta shrugged. "W- we d- don't k- know wh she c- comes frm," she said, sipping more and more. "B- bu- but that's nah w- why I c- come here," Taffyta stated confidently.

"Oh? Do tell!" Tapper had been running his game for a long time, he knew how to squeeze answers out when he wanted to, though the strange strawberry racer was incredibly easy.

Taffyta broke down to a fit of giggles. But that soon stopped. She glanced down at her half downed drink with a thoughtful expression.

"I- I us- used t- to h- hate her s- so much," she said truthfully.

"Hate who?"

"V- Vanellope."

"Ah, your princess. Ahem, your _true_ princess. Heard about all of that, nasty business."

The drunk girl nodded. "T- then t-t- th g- game reset. A- a- an," she tried to get out, but instead, she was forced to hiccup and burp several times. "A- a- and I realized somethin'…"

"What?"

Her face contorted into a confusion mess, until she decided that a frown would be best. "I- I don't know why I t- t- treated her that way..."

"You don't?" Tapper asked and she quickly shook her head. "Oh?"

Taffyta mumbled something about herself before she dug back into her rootbeer.

"Oh boy. Look, Taffyta. I'll gladly serve ya. I mean, your money as good as anyone else's, but you can't just drink to forget your problems. It's not healthy, it-"

"H- hey, da- dare sh- she is!" Taffyta nearly screamed, her voice drowning his out. Without thinking, the racer waved at the entrance with a goofy looking smile. She saw the vanilla racer herself along with Felix, of all people looking around. "H- hi- hi, V- Vanellope!" she screamed.

Tapper could only watch the train wreck unfold and he knew it was not going to be pretty.

The mint themed racer gave a shy wave and walked over with Felix.

"Uh, hey, Taffyta. How you been?"

"G- great! Ho- how 'b- 'bout y- you, prezzzzz?!"

Felix shared a nervous glance with Vanellope. Taffyta swayed a bit and quickly went back to sipping on her drink.

"Uh, c- can't complain," she replied with a shrug. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, though? Cause you look kind of..." Vanellope waved her hands in a vain attempt to come up with something brilliant to say, but then went for broke. "Drunk."

"N- nev- neva better…" she slurred happily.

Felix glanced up to Tapper, giving him the stink eye while the little man simply shrugged in reply.

"Right," Vanellope said rather skeptically. When the taffy theme racer wasn't looking, she quickly grabbed her drink and hid it behind her back. "Why don't we get ya back to Sugar Rush and you can sleep this all off so-"

"W- w- w-" She tried to say but suddenly broke out into a fit of coughing and hiccups. "Wh- sh- should _I_ g- go ba- back! I- ish all 'bout' d- da m- m- my- mystery menace! N-n-n- a l- like n- ne- need me…" she finished and started to slump her head onto the cold counter.

The president of Sugar Rush gave the strawberry girl a long look and a very sad smile. Felix nudged her to move over so she could carry the intoxicated girl

"C'mon, we'll take you back," he offered rather kindly. For a split second, the proud racer almost seemed to want to climb into his arms, but then she blanched and froze in place.

"What's wrong?" Vanellope asked.

Her face turned green and the girl darted away from both of them and into the bathroom, faster than they ever thought possible. She had to find an empty toilet and thankfully she did in record time. The world spinning, she barely was able to aim properly before it all came up. It came out so quickly, she was certain the coming pain was gonna make her pass out.

"Arg…" she moaned and continued to occasionally vomit up more of the vile liquid. The giddiness and happy and bubbly feeling thoughts slowly ebbed away as the intoxicating drink quickly left her body in the most painful manner possible. "H- hurts s- so bad…" she slurred. All the while she could only think one thing.

 _I deserve this..._

* * *

Vanellope waved Felix off before he could act. "I'll handle this."

"Are you sure?!"

Vanellope looked up to the man and nodded confidently. "I'm supposed to be their leader. And right now ol' Taffy butt needs some guidance. Go have fun with Calhoun, okay?"

Felix slowly nodded. "Alright, but don't hesitate to bring her over if it gets worse. Okay?"

Mustering up as much seriousness as she could, the little girl nodded and slowly walked off. She'd gone roughly ten full minutes without a joke or a quip, that's when you knew things were serious. As she neared the toilets, she couldn't help but gulp hearing the drunk racer vomit her gizzards out. She had consumed Root Beer before, but never more than a few sips since all the Sugar Rush children knew what it did to them. Apparently, Taffyta didn't mind.

There were only three stalls with the other two wide open and empty. The sound of silence was occasionally broken up by Taffyta coughing and crying.

 _Here goes nothing…_

Taking a deep breath, Vanellope gave a gentle knock on the stall door. "Taffy? Are you okay?"

"Gah! G- go away!" the girl screamed. Her voice still sounded slurred and hazy, but there was a definite fire behind them.

 _Stubborn brat…_ she thought, not fully appreciating the irony.

"No. I don't think I will, Taffyta. I'm gonna stand here and wait until you're done."

There was a bit of silence but it was quickly broken when the girl suddenly slammed her fist into the stall several times. Vanellope glitched in shock while the racer seemed to have a fit.

"I- I sa- said leave!"

It was pitiful sounding. Even when Ralph had broken her kart, her crying hadn't been _that_ bad. Making up her mind, she readied her mind and forced her body to teleport into the stall. She found Taffyta hunched over the toilet, crying her eyes out and doing a very lousy job of hiding it. She was shaking but thankfully had wiped away any excess vomit from her face.

"I- I s- sa- sai leave…" she protested with a loud whimper.

"No."

"I d- don- don't w- wan- want to se- see you…"

"I don't care," Vanellope said and seemed to surprise the girl by taking a seat on the bathroom floor, inches away.

For a while, the two racers seemed content to stare at one another. Taffyta kept panting for air, hoping the worst had been out of her system.

"W- whatever," she said, looking defeated.

Vanellope slowly placed her hand on the girl's back for support. Taffyta didn't flinch and could only stare back in wonderment.

"Is this what you've been doing in your free time? Just… coming here, alone?"

"W- why d d- do you care," she said, followed by several large sniffles.

"Who the hay said I didn't care about ya, Taffy Girl?" she quipped, not liking how mushy things were suddenly getting.

The response she got was _not_ what she expected. Taffyta's eyes widened to impossible sizes and she started sniffling and crying even worse.

"I- I mean-"

 **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**

The broken girl started pounding her head on the bathroom stall, over and over until she was wincing in pain and crying even worse. Blood pooled around a fresh wound which started to stain the bathroom walls.

"I- I'm s- so… s- s- stupid!" Taffyta screamed as she continued to bang over and over.

Vanellope could only watch in horror as the girl continued to scream incoherently, tears falling with no resistance while she just kept on banging her head into the stall walls.

"S- stop! Taffyta, stop hurting yourself!" Vanellope screamed and quickly grabbed her without thinking and glitched away. They landed several feet outside the stall on their bottoms, Taffyta crying in a broken mess and mumbling several very incoherent things. Her head was bleeding and it looked very badly bruised.

 _Mushy or no, this has to stop_ , Vanellope thought.

She did the only thing she could think and brought her in for a hug. There was an awkward moment where she positioned her into her lap, but the damaged girl didn't care. Ignoring the blood, the president began to slowly rub her hands through her blonde hair while saying things like "shh" over and over.

They laid like that for a good while. There didn't need to be any words between the two. Though it didn't stay that way forever.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?!" Vanellope asked her own voice hitching and on the verge of tears.

"N- no," she whimpered.

The vanilla girl closed her eyes and started rubbing Taffyta's back in tiny little circles. The time for jokes and small talk was _way_ over.

"I- I don't understand. I can't help if you won't talk, Taffy…"

"A- a- ah'm so- sry…" she finally said, though it came out as a quiet whimper.

 _Glad I got these big ears, for once…_

"You're sorry?" Vanellope said and Taffyta nodded and then buried her face into her mint green jacket. "Why are you sorry?" she asked in the most gentle tone she could muster.

"H-h- hurtin- hurting you…"

It all came crashing onto the president like a ton of bricks. Finally, she started to understand, and it terrified her.

"F- fo- for p- pushin- pushin' y- y- you in t- th- the mud…"

"I-"

"F- f- fo- for the f- f- f- fudge i- in your ha- hair…"

"B- bu-"

"K-k- kic- kicking y- you ou- out of t- to- town," she whined and didn't seem to be able to stop.

"Taffyt-"

"B-b- br- break- breaking your kart!"

"Stop… please stop talking…"

"C- c- cal- call- calling y- you a glitch."

Suddenly Vanellope gently placed her hand over Taffyta's lips and looked her straight in the eye. "I forgave you and everyone else. Okay? I promise. You don't have to… to act like this. I know you're a good person and a good racer. Please stop hurting yourself, okay, Taffy Butt?"

"I'm sorry! I'- I'm a m- mo- monster!" she screamed and buried her head in Vanellope's chest once more.

Vanellope could think to do nothing but pat her on the back while she awkwardly hugged the poor girl.

"No, you're not. Taffyta, I need you to take some deep breathes so we can stand ya up, can you do that for me?"

The crying girl gave a few nods and took some deep, shuddering breaths. Vanellope was incredibly patient and continued to rub her back in little circles. "That's it, just deep breathes. No one's mad at you. I'm not mad. No more hurting yourself, okay?"

Another nod and another few breathes.

Vanellope wasn't stupid. A child? Sure, but she was far from dumb and knew that a few hugs and deep breathes wasn't going to solve the issue overnight. But hopefully, it was a start.

"That's it," she said very soothingly. "Let's just get on your feet. Okay?"

A few minutes later, Taffyta was stood up, leaning on Vanellope for support. "Okay, just one step at a time…"

It took a little while, but they eventually made it to the entrance of Tappers. The man didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, but they didn't care.

"M- m- my h- he- head hurts…" Taffyta whined.

Vanellope chuckled. "Happens with too much soda and, uh, that little number…" she noted out loud, pointing to the big bruise on Taffyta's skull. The bathroom had nothing to clean her with, though the blood seemed to have waned somewhat, thankfully.

The trip on the little trolley back to Sugar Rush couldn't have been more awkward. _Need to clean her wound and get her in bed, pronto. And then… I think I need to talk to Felix and Ralph about this…_

"S- s- so- sorry b r- ruin- ruining y- yo- your night…"

Vanellope sighed and re-positioned the inebriated girl so her head was leaning on her shoulder, like a pillow. "You didn't destroy all of our karts. You have nothing to be sorry for. That stupid barf brain mystery racer does."

Taffyta snorted. "Y- yeah, I guess."

The little trolley soon docked at Sugar Rush and they were quickly on their feet. "We'll have to walk the whole way, my kart's still at the shop. Think you can manage?"

A shy little nod followed. "M-m- my p-pla- place i-i-is- isn't far."

Vanellope chuckled again. "Sorry, little miss Soda Nut. We're going to _my_ place. It's closer and you need to sleep this off!" _And maybe a bit of first aid…_

"B- b- but, I-"

"No, butts. We gotta get something on that bruise and you _are_ going to lay down so you can sleep this off. Okay?"

She huffed but nodded. "F- f- fin- fine…"

"Good."

* * *

It took the duo roughly a half hour just to reach the gates. By then the constant limping and required support for Taffyta had been grating on Vanellope's nerves, though she kept her temper in check, thankfully. _Easy girl. It's not her fault she's like this_ , Vanellope reminded herself. Her nose wrinkled though and she suddenly smelled more root beer. _Mostly not her fault_.

Eventually, they made it into the throne room which was relatively empty that time of night. "Sour Bill? Are ya here?" Vanellope called out.

As if on cue, the man himself showed up from a nearby door. "Your majesty, you have a few guests waiting- what happened to her?!"

Taffyta looked away rather shamefully but said nothing.

"Long story, sour man. And what do you mean by guests?"

The sour ball slowly walked to his right, revealing several Sugar Rush racers, waiting rather impatiently in a cramped guest room. But it only took one of them to make eye contact with the two to start making noise.

"Taffyta! There you are! Oh my Sega, are you alright?"

"Why do you have that bruise?"

"Your house was trashed!"

"Did someone beat you up!"

"What's happening!"

Well over a dozen racers started to crowd the poor girl as she clutched her head and shook in fear. Vanellope wasn't a doctor, but she surmised that so much attention likely wasn't good for her headache. "Guys! Stop! Stop! You're hurting her!"

Vanellope forced the two through the crowd, holding onto Taffyta's hand rather tightly. "Just back up and stop yelling, you're making her headache worse."

The other racers looked on in bewilderment but they thankfully did quiet down. Looking at one another, they nodded to a cherry themed racer in the front. Most called her by her nickname _Bing Bing_ but her true name was Jubileena. The pigtailed girl with the cherry helmet stepped forward, holding in her hands a series of strange looking golden artifacts.

"Sor- sorry, President Vanellope."

 _It's Vanellope! You can just call me by my first name! UGH!_

"We got worried when we couldn't find Taffyta tonight and when someone checked her place, it looked trashed on the inside. All of her trophies and medals were… well, just look!"

Her hands reached out and indeed Vanellope could see broken up trophies and cracked medal pieces.

A boy, Swizzle, if Vanellope wasn't mistaken stepped forward. "Yeah and we thought someone broke in and did all of that. When we couldn't find her, we thought the worst…" he exclaimed, looking rather sour.

Everyone peered over to Taffyta, including Vanellope, hoping for an answer. The distressed girl sighed and shrugged. "W- w- was i- in a h- hu- hurry," she mumbled. "Accident…" she said.

No one seemed convinced of that, though they didn't have much time to ponder it. Taffyta started grabbing Vanellope's arm, practically begging her to be taken out of view of her friends in that state.

"Right. Everyone, Taffyta had a little accident and I'm gonna go get her some quick first aid and find her a bed to rest in," Vanellope explained. The other started looking at one another, mumbling amongst themselves. "You're all, um, welcome to stay but we really need to treat her wound so…"

Crumbelina, a chocolate-themed racer with a rather elegant style stepped forward with a frown. "Do what you gotta do, but we're not going anywhere," she stated and everyone else seemed to nod in agreement.

Taffyta blushed from all the attention but still looked away in shame.

"Right, okay. I'll just be right back and I'll explain everything! C'mon, girl. Let's get ya cleaned up…" she said, whispering the last part to just Taffyta.

* * *

A few moments later, Taffyta was seated on Vanellope's own bed while the girl in question took out a little white box of medical supplies. The partially drunk girl was barely paying attention to any of her surroundings. Instead, she found her feet rather interesting.

"Okay, this is gonna sting a bit, but it should be over soon," Vanellope said. She gently held Taffyta's blonde hair at bay while using her free hand to press a little wipe over her wound.

Taffyta moaned in pain but it only lasted for a second. The mint themed racer dabbed the cut a few more times then quickly patched it up with a few band-aids. Then she started to clean up.

"There we go, much better."

Taffyta nodded and slowly sunk down into what she presumed to be a bed. Taffyta glanced around and noted that, for a royal bedroom, the decorations were rather plain. Vanellope had a few makeshift looking dolls which rested over on a cabinet, along with various other knick-knacks. But other than the large bed and a few random photographs, the rest was simply bare mint green walls.

"S- so plai- plain…"

"Hmm?"

"Y- y- your room."

Vanellope blushed and nodded. "I like it this way. Kinda reminds me of, well, where I used to hang out a lot." Then she suddenly sniffed the air. "Though it smells a lot more like root beer than diet cola," she noted.

Taffyta smiled and brushed her fingers through the soft bedding as she closed her eyes. The root beer was still swirling through her system, but its overall strength was slowly subsiding. "T- thanks fo- for t- the patch job…"

The president grinned. "No problem! But what about your house? All your trophies and stuff?"

Taffyta groaned and turned over onto her side. Just thinking of them put her in a sour mood. "D- d- don't w- wan em. I…" she tried to say but trailed off, deep in thought. Vanellope stood off to the side, waiting patiently. "I broke them," she finally admitted.

"Why?"

"Don deserve 'em…" she muttered. She felt so exhausted, she just wanted to sleep, but Vanellope at least deserved her respect and to know some answers.

For a few moments, she felt content to simply lay there while resting her eyes, but then she felt something pulled over her body. Cracking an eye open, she found Vanellope tucking her into bed, of all things.

"Y- your bed… I- I don-"

"You deserve a nice place to sleep tonight. And if you ask me, it may as well be somewhere quiet, so here," she said and even fluffed the pillow out as her head was brought over to rest just over them.

"..." Taffyta seemed to whine and started to muster up the strength to leave.

"Ah, c'mon! Your friends are all here. They're so worried about you. Don't you think the least you could do is get some sleep, for their sake?"

Taffyta sighed and slumped back into bed. It did feel a lot nicer than trying to stumble drunk to her house, in the dark.

Just on the edge of full-on sleep, Taffyta couldn't help but mumble out, "Whe- when y- you ge- get so mushy…"

Vanellope blanched. "Ugh, I know. You can blame ol' barf breath for that one."

"Who?"

Vanellope giggled. "Ralph. Big guy, freakishly huge hands, wrecks things."

"O- oh yeah… h- he's ni-nice, huh?"

Blushing a tad, she nodded. "Yeah, he really is. Why don't you get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow's our day off and you can even sleep in! Sound good?"

Taffyta's brain was still swimming. Her problems seemed a million miles away, but there was still something naggin' her, egging her to stay away. "Wh- whe- where y- you sleep?"

Vanellope snorted. "I'll bring out the ol' sleeping bag, soda nut. Now, sleep, okay?"

Taffyta was finally out like a light.

"Sweet dreams," the mint racer mumbled and sighed.

* * *

 **I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support. Everyone in this little fandom is very understanding and helpful. Comments, criticism, ideas or reviews are always welcome. If any writers of WiR wish to join a Discord server of mine for just that (text only), then please send me a PM for details on getting invited. We're small but growing.**


	4. Chapter Four: Awakening

She blinked.

The act of blinking wasn't unusual in and of itself. However, blinking implied action. But, why was that so strange?

Her arms slowly sank to her sides and she waited.

And waited.

Just what was she doing there again? Slowly, her head craned to the side so she could survey her surroundings. But before she could even blink, something nearest to her caught all of her focus.

It was a motorbike. Just how she even knew what one _was,_ she didn't know. Hesitantly, she tiptoed over to the vehicle, her gloved hands slowly brushing along the seat just to feel that it was real.

To feel.

Why did feeling things _feel_ so good? Was she even supposed to feel? She could feel the breeze blowing through her hair and the warm, radiating sun over her clothing.

And she also felt a small buzzing in the back of her head. Instinctively, she reached back to feel for anything, but all she felt was hair.

Still, the buzzing continued. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact, it felt really good. Just like feeling had.

Then she felt something else. Something strange that was well beyond her own control. Instructions seemed to flow into her consciousness at an impossibly fast rate.

She bent her knees. Which felt fine.

She spread her arms and they felt fine too.

She blinked and breathed and wiggled her body in various places. She started to give herself a real workout by running in place. It was so strange like she hadn't moved in years and suddenly got to. But, just why would that even be strange?

As far as she knew, she _hadn't_ ever moved before. Was there even a before?

She blinked and walked back over to her bike.

 _Her_ bike? Was that right?

The contraption, in her opinion, was gorgeous in its design. Granted, she didn't have much to compare it to, if anything at all. The sleek black licorice theme which curved along the outer portion of its engine was simply fascinating to look at. Black was by far the most prominent color, but there was a dash of brightly coated candies on the sides of the wheels. Carefully, she felt along each tire and found a hint of sour smelling dust had started to coat her gloves.

She smelled, which was odd to her. She had never smelled anything quite so pungent before in her entire life. Yet it wasn't all bad, in fact, it tasted quite good. Tiny shivers of delight shot into her consciousness and it took all of her will power not lick the tires themselves. Sour was certainly _her_ favorite flavor.

Which was odd because she knew she had never tasted anything before. And certainly never smelled anything before. But nothing about that seemed unusual to her.

Shaking her head of those silly thoughts, she walked back over to the front of _her_ bike and carefully picked up her black helmet.

 _Her_ helmet.

Like the tires, the thing was heavily coated in sour candied dust but somehow it retained a black hue with an equally black faceplate to see through. She felt it and her whole world suddenly got much brighter.

She was meant to race. That's all she could think about while she rotated the helmet in her hands several times. Just how she came to this conclusion was well beyond her understanding, but, like a light switch, the urge to race was there. It grew stronger the more she touched the helmet and she just knew the right thing to do was to wear it.

 _Race_.

The girl plopped the thing on and waited. The helmet had fit perfectly with the inner cushion perfectly aligned to fit her face and skull's shape. A bright blue flash overtook her body and she started to _feel_ way more like a racer. Her clothing shifted and changed to match the mysterious black coloring of her helmet. She looked to her arms and found a black leather jacket had replaced her plain shirt, along with what could only be described as racing pants. If that was even a thing?

 _It's time to race_.

The girl didn't need any further instructions as she quickly hopped onto her bike and got into the right position. She felt along the controls and twisted the steering several times. It all just _felt_ so right. She smiled for perhaps the first time in her life. A genuine and overly happy smile. This was where she was meant to be. Where she belonged.

 **SECOND CHECKPOINT! HERE COMES THE MYSTERY RACER! LOOK OUT FOR HER WRATH! SHE'LL STOP AT NOTHING TO WIN! WIN! WIN!**

 _Win! It was her duty to win!_

Running on pure instinct, the engine in her bike rang to life for the first time. The seat rumbled, the engine roared and the girl smirked. It was time to show them what she was made of. Before she even knew her own actions, the bike had started gunning down the hill at breakneck speeds.

She wasn't nervous, even if she had never even tried something like it before.

She had never even driven before.

Everything felt natural. There wasn't a single instruction or move that didn't pop up as second nature.

As an instruction to follow.

It was almost like she was following a barely visible pathway. One that would always steer here in the right direction. Where she'd never make a single mistake.

But, had she even made mistakes before?

The road where the other racers were started to get closer and closer. She sped up and revved her engine several times to keep in gear. The edge of the mountain became dangerously close.

And yet, she didn't _feel_ any fear.

 _Her_ bike jumped and soon she was soaring through the air at unfathomable speeds. The ground was about to end and yet another flawless instruction radiated through her mind.

The pathway was clear, right between the two other racers was her target. She landed with her bike jumping high in the air several times before settling down. Despite her actions not fully being her own, the entire experience was exhilarating!

She was meant to race!

The instructions suddenly got vastly more complicated; something she could never come up with on her own. She was just thankful they were there to help guide her.

They were a guide, right?

Again, shaking the thought aside, _her_ Bike crashed into a massive powerup box as the announcer declared to everyone the results of her prize.

 _Her_ powerup.

 _You must win! You have to!_

Grinning under her helmet, she took her newly acquired canon and aimed it high up at a nearby mountain.

A mountain which happened to be positioned right next to the race track. Just before she hit the cannon, a pleasant dull feeling of mischievous giddiness bubbled to the surface of her emotions.

 _Her_ emotions.

She _felt_ herself giggle and kicked the bike high in the air before releasing a massive stream of powerful cannons which struck the ice cream mountain dead center. She landed while one of the girls behind her screamed something. Still giggling to herself, she waved and sped off just before the ice cream avalanche could get her.

Not that there was even the slightest chance of that happening with the programmed pathway guiding her every move.

The rest of the race seemed to go along quite smoothly. She would swerve her bike from left to right in sync with her inner guide. Like a set of training wheels which always kept her safe and kept her winning.

"Hey, barf breath! I hope you like second!"

Suddenly, as the road tilted to the right, the racer from behind did something she had never seen before. Her entire form glitched ahead, almost like teleporting.

 _No! I have to win!_

Her guide, her pathway, her instructions shifted and changed as they neared the finish line. Possibly seconds away. She popped a wheelie again and landed squarely on the other racer's messy looking kart with their forms crashing together. Spinning out of control, her hand reached out to touch the other girls. Something about doing it just _felt_ right.

A bizarre a strangely euphoric sensation began to radiate throughout her code. She closed her eyes and felt a multitude of three-dimensional pixels with brightly detailed lights flash over her body and her mind. But there was something else. As they spun wildly out of control and neared the finish line, the girl felt something oddly familiar about the other racer.

Whatever it was, she barely had time to decipher the meaning. _Her_ code and _her_ bike materialized ahead of the other racer using the exact same trick that she had: teleporting through thin air.

One moment she was stuck on the racer's kart and the next she was back in the race and crossing the finish line. It didn't matter how she did it, or even how she was able to go about doing it.

She had won the race! She sped off, eager to follow more glorious instructions. Life couldn't be any sweeter.

* * *

The guiding pathway led the girl deep into the game's world. _Very_ deep. Slowly, the strange glowing hue that was her guide started to fade away and she stopped her bike and gently shut the engine off.

And she waited.

She blinked and slowly, _very_ slowly, started to finally look at her surroundings. Just what was this place?

She knew of the track and its purpose: to race. Wasn't there all that was to life? Why would anything else need to exist?

 _Why am I here?_

* * *

 **Quite the tiny chapter and I apologize. But I didn't feel this needed to be much longer than this. Thank you all for reading and any comments and reviews.**


	5. Chapter Five: Fallout

Vanellope gently shut the door to her room and slowly sunk to the floor, feeling more exhausted than she had in days. Which was really saying something.

If it wasn't enough that Taffyta decided to have a full-blown meltdown in her own arms, everyone else would want to know what the hay was going on. "Programmers, what do I even tell them? Uh, sorry, but Taffyta went insane and you can all go home now!"

She tried to have a giggle at that, but she knew that it wasn't funny.

 _She's not insane. She's sad over how she treated ya for so long._ she reasoned with herself. It sort of made sense and it certainly proved that the strawberry racer had a good heart to be so distraught over it, but something about it still bothered her.

"Not that they're not upset too… but no one else is that upset," Vanellope muttered as she slowly walked back toward the throne room. "Are they?!"

The thought had crossed her mind a few times. The way they stared at her with guilty expressions plastered on their faces. Now that she really thought about it, the idea maybe wasn't so crazy.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she slowly stood up and started to make her slow trek back to the throne room. As she neared it, the unmistakable voices of the other racers echoed into the halls while they continued to argue.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered and put on a bright fake smile before revealing herself.

"Yo!"

Everyone stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. It was a rare moment in silence from the other racers which sent shivers up Vanellope's spine.

"So she's fine now and sleeping."

Several racers stuck their hands on their hips and gave the president a rather curious look. Candlehead, an unusually shy racer, took the lead. "How did she end up like that?"

Vanellope started toying with her fingers, finding them very curious. "Um, well you see-"

Before she could even formulate a response, one of the boys stepped forward. It was Rancis Fluggerbutter, a cocky little racer that often had a bad attitude with others. He wore a peanut butter cup themed hat and chocolate colored suit. He cleared his throat and spoke over her. "Can we see her?!"

Vanellope was going to point out how rude it was to interrupt, but the boy was wringing his hat in his arms rather nervously. Looking at her with a wide, hopeful stare. Her face softened and she shrugged.

"If you want, my uh, my room is just down the hall," she said and several racers blew right past her. She quickly spun around and gave one last shout, "Be quiet, she's asleep, okay!"

Several gave her a thumbs up and she sighed. Glancing behind her, she noted that some of the racers decided to stick behind, Candlehead was still waiting for a reply.

"Well? What happened?"

 _Don't be rude, don't be rude. You're their leader, she's not Ralph_ , she reminded herself. "Look, Candlehead, I'm not sure how much I should say."

"Oh? And why not? She's our friend, we have a right to know if someone's hurting her!" she argued.

It was a fair point and Vanellope slowly nodded. "It's just… well, she…" Vanellope trailed off, trying to think of the right words. Glancing back to the distraught racer, she noted tears brimming in her eyes.

"Is this about how sh- no, _we_ used to bully you? I- I'm rea- really sorry," she stuttered, on the verge of our right crying.

"What?! No! I- I mean _sort of_ ," she said and Candlehead gasped.

"W- we're re- really s- sorry! Please don't hurt Taffy!" the girl practically screamed, shaking in fear as she broke down crying.

Vanellope slowly lowered her hand down her face in an exaggerated manner. "You think I did that to her?!"

The often ditzy girl simply nodded as she continued to sniffle.

Vanellope felt hurt inside. Is that how they saw her? Some kind of monster ruler who was out to exact revenge. _I'm not Turbo and that's not who I am!_ She took a deep breath and surprised Candlehead by leaning in for a hug.

"Listen to me very carefully. I'm not mad or upset at any of you, not even ol' Taffy Butt. I'd _never_ do anything like that to any of you. I didn't do that to her… s- she did," Vanellope finally admitted as she let go of the hug.

Candlehead wiped away her tears and slowly nodded. "P- pinkies?" she offered, holding out her pinkie for the most sacred of swears, as far a bunch of candy themed children knew, anyway.

Vanellope giggled a bit and quickly cupped her hand and pinkie into Candlehead's in a very tight bond. "Pinkie Swear. I'm not… yuck, King Candy. I… I just don't know what to do about old Taffy Head," she said sadly. Candlehead gave her a slow nod and a rather long stare.

The girl sniffed one last time before speaking, "Wh- what did you mean that she did that to herself?"

Vanellope looked down, seemingly deep in thought before speaking. "Candlehead!"

"Yes?"

"You're one of Taffyta's best friends, right?"

The girl beamed and gave a very confident nod. "Of course. We always hang out. She can be friendly, once you get to know her you know…" she pointed out rather shyly.

"I'm sure she is, but has she been acting funny lately? Anything you noticed?"

"Well, I-"

"Doesn't take a genius to notice that, prez."

Both girls whipped around and spotted Crumbelina, apparently finished with her visit to see Taffyta.

Vanellope scratched her head and quirked a brow rather curiously "What do you mean by that?"

"Ever since the reset, Taffyta's been really, well? Let's just say not very Taffyta like," she exclaimed rather eloquently.

Vanellope glanced over to Candlehead for confirmation and she simply nodded.

"I don't think I understand."

Candlehead nervously fidgeted with her fingers before continuing. "When the game reset… we all felt so bad about how we treated you, Vanellope."

The president blanched. "But I forgave you all! I really did!"

The two racers glanced at one another before staring back at Vanellope. "We know that. But I don't think Taffyta knows."

Shock. That was all she could feel as she closed her eyes and tried to think up a quick solution. She had forgiven them. Even if Vanellope had to admit to herself that she barely knew any of them, that didn't mean she was angry. Maybe a bit sad, but never angry.

 _I bet Ralph would know what to do…_

She always went to him for advice or even Felix and the others. Making up her mind, she turned back to Candlehead and grabbed her hands. "Candlehead, can you watch over Taffyta in case she wakes up. I need to go talk to someone."

The shy girl nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Anything for Taffy. But, who are you gonna see?"

The president smirked. "Just a friend."

* * *

It took Vanellope a little while longer than she would have liked just to leave her own game. The other racers had come back for a full explanation, but she wasn't willing to give it. It wasn't that she didn't want them to know, but she very much doubted Taffyta would want the information spread without her knowledge. It was a simple explanation and she was about to leave when the racers all yelled back at her.

"We want answers, president! Who's that stupid new racer ruining our game!" Rancis yelled.

"You still didn't tell us how Taffyta got like that! Hiding something, president?!"

Vanellope groaned. "No, I-"

"Did ya punish Taffyta for being a bully to you?!"

Vanellope scowled and started to back up, but she was surprised to find Candlehead stepping between them all and Vanellope. "Vanellope would never do such a thing. I… I thought she might have, but if she said she didn't then I believe her. She's going out to get Taffyta some help, right?" she asked, glancing behind her.

Vanellope gave a hesitant nod.

"I want to know what happened as much as all of you, but not if it means betraying Taffyta's trust. That's not what friends do, Rancis," she exclaimed and wagged her finger at him like a mother would scolding a child.

The normally bratty boy looked down and started nervously shuffling his feet.

"Thank you," Vanellope whispered to Candlehead. The silly girl smiled and gave a quick thumbs up.

Right before leaving, the president addressed everyone. "Look, like she said I just want to help her. I didn't hurt her and I would _never_ punish any of you like that," she exclaimed. The others looked rather uncertain so she continued. "I mean, where's the originality. I could stuff ya in hardening fudge or maybe toss ya into the Fungeon for a while," she said, counting off the potential punishments as everyone's eyes widened in surprise. "Maybe make ya clean everyone's karts for a month, oh that one sounds fun!"

Candlehead was waving her arms and shaking her head as if to tell her _please stop_.

"Oh c'mon. I'm just joking!" she argued. There were a few chuckles, but they were half-hearted at best. "Arg. Sorry, bad time for jokes. But like I've said before: I'm _not_ King candy. I…" _I just wish you would all stop thinking of me like him_. Was what she wanted to say. "I… nevermind. I already said it. I'm not him. You're all welcome to stay in the castle for as long as it takes for her to get better. But I need to go speak to a friend."

Rancis surprised her by stepping forward. "Thanks, Vanellope. Uh, sorry about earlier…" he mumbled while rubbing the side of his arm.

"No worries, Flubber Boy. I'll be back!" she exclaimed and quickly darted outside.

It didn't take her long to reach the exit and soon she was riding the trolley back into Game Central Station. A few moments later and she had boarded the trolly back into Fix-It Felix, Jr. Her exhaustion from earlier was long gone, which really surprised her. _Guess I'm wired_ , she thought with a little giggle.

She hopped off the tram and stumbled forward a few steps, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Maybe I need sleep after this after all…" she mumbled, suddenly feeling pretty tired. Apparently, the adrenalin of looking after Taffyta was wearing off.

Glancing around, she noted that Ralph was nowhere to be seen. She checked his relatively tiny home, a place which his new friends help construct but found no one was home. Groaning, she figured her best bet would be asking the Nicelanders.

"I can't just bug Felix again. I guess I can just choose a random door…" she said, deep in thought.

She had really only been outside her own game a few times in her whole life. As such, she didn't exactly know everyone on a personal level yet. She stepped into the apartment complex and glanced around. There were so many doors to choose from, and that was just on the first level! He fingers danced around in a makeshift game of _Eeny Meeny_ though eventually she just decided on the first one.

Hesitantly, she reached out and knocked.

" _Coming!_ " A cheerful high-pitched voice exclaimed from the other side. The door quickly opened, revealing a plump and short looking woman donning a pink blouse and dress. She looked around for a second, her head moving in a rather archaic style, given her 8-bit roots before finally looking up at Vanellope.

"Oh, hello there. V… Vanellope, right?"

"Yep, that's me! Um…" she trailed off rather awkwardly, not really sure just who she was even talking to.

"Oh don't be shy dearie. I know you're new around here. My name is Mary," she explained and soon the two had shaken on it.

"Nice to meet you! I'm really sorry to bother you this late," she said, her hand hanging behind her back.

"Oh no bother at all. Was just baking some pies. Ralph was right about you, very polite."

 _Ralph said that about me? Me?! Polite? Yuck!_ she thought. On the outside, however, she blushed, giving a rather shy smile. "R- really? I was wondering if you knew where the ol' bar- um, _wrecker_ , was?"

"Hmm, I if I remember right, he'd be over at his Bad Anon group tonight. It should be getting out soon, though."

The girl smacked her face. "Oh _doy_! Of course, he's there. I better go catch him, thanks a lot!" she exclaimed and started to glitch away.

"No worries, dearie. Give my best to Ralph!" Mary said while waving.

* * *

It was quite the trek to get over to Pac Man. Not too daunting, but at that point, the president was running on fumes as far as energy went.

"M- must find Ralph," she repeated over and over, like a zombie. After ten full minutes of walking, she rounded a corner in game central and there it was, Pac Man. She took a few steps forward and collapsed on the file floor, leaning against a wall parallel to the exit.

"J- just rest my eyes," she mumbled as they dropped dangerously low.

"HEY KID!"

Vanellope jumped ten feet in the air, glitching in every which direction before settling on the floor. She panted and breathed while clutching her heart in surprise. "R- Ralph! What the hay was that for?!"

The man himself wiped his nose and shrugged. "Sorry, kid. Though it tends to happen when you take a nap out in the middle of nowhere. What's that about?"

She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "I'm super exhausted, ya big mouth. That's what…" she said, trailing off and as if to make her point, letting loose a huge screeching yawn.

"Yeah, I can see that. Need a ride?" he asked, offering her a hand.

 _Oh, Ralph…_ She smiled and glitched up to his shoulder before taking a seat, using the thing as a makeshift sofa. "Lead the way, stink breath!"

"Right," he said and started making his way out of the little alley. "How ya been, ya little munchkin?"

She yawned again and sighed. "Not amazing, kind of a long story. You?"

"Never better, actually. You okay though?"

Vanellope sighed again and started delving into the story of the mystery racer, dragging Felix away from Calhoun to repair all the karts and Taffyta's not so little breakdown. All the while Ralph remained stoic and silent, listening and nodding occasionally.

"And everyone's upset at me and I dunno what to do about Taffy Brain or this stupid mystery girl and I can't just keep dragging Bob the Builder over for every race and I'm sort of starting to freak out," she stated, her left eye twitching occasionally.

"Woah, calm down there, little pixie." Her body glitched around a few times until she finally settled on top of his head, panting in exhaustion.

"What do I do, Ralph?"

He picked her up and looked her in the eye. "You do know my day job is wrecking a giant building, right?"

"And I'm a racer, what part of that qualifies me to lead an entire kingdom made of candy?!" she asked, her voice raising a few notches higher than she would have liked.

"Fair point, kid. I guess let's start with the mystery racer and go from there?"

Vanellope groaned, slumping in his hand and looking rather defeated. "Kind of hard to do anything about that when no one knows where she lives. She's like a super speedy ninja or something!"

Ralph shrugged. "Someone's got to know. Sugar Rush is huge, and you rule over how many candy citizens?"

She shrugged. "Hundreds I guess. You want me to talk to each one, like some sorta criminal investigator?"

"No, just make an announcement after a race or something. Looking for where the mystery racer lives, any information come to the castle! Reward!"

She snorted as they continued down Game Central. "I may be the president, but I'm not made of gold coins!"

"Well think of something, prez. It can't be that hard."

She nodded and glitched back over to his head before slowly resting over it. "Good as plan as any…" she said rather sleepily.

"She that exhausting?"

"The stupid mystery racer's a menace, Ralphie Boy. Hard to keep up with her on the tracks."

Ralph shook his head. "Wasn't talking about her."

"Oh… _oh_. You should have seen her, Ralph. She… she was a mess."

"Yeah, well, from what I understand, Taffyta was probably the meanest of the bunch to ya. No wonder she's a nervous wreck now… little brat," he said, a sour look on his face.

"Ralph! Don't call her a brat. She… she's not that bad. Kind of nice, at least she was tonight… sort of," she muttered. "Ralph? S- she tried to hurt herself. She…" Vanellope trailed off as she hiccuped. Her eyes grew misty as the events came spilling out into her mind.

Thinking fast, the wrecker patted her on the back, making sure she was alright.

The big man sighed. "She'll have to convince me of that. You'll excuse me if I'm not buying it from ya, though. She was practically King Candy's little pet!"

Vanellope slapped his face, though in her current state it came out as a laughable and very painless brush of her hand. "She's not his pet…"

"Maybe not now considering how he burned up in a freakin' volcano."

Vanellope shivered from his statement. "Don't wanna think about that…"

"O- oh… sorry, kid."

"S'kay," she mumbled.

 _Just rest my eyes… Ralph has a comfy head_ , she thought happily.

They continued to walk for a little bit. The constant rhythm of Ralph's steps lulling her to sleep and suddenly her problems seems a million miles away.

"Uh, kid? Did you fall asleep?" he asked, poking her in the face rather gently.

It all came back like a jolt of electricity. Taffyta, the mystery racer, the mistrust of her fellow racers. All of it washed over her mind like a sudden virus and suddenly things didn't feel so comfortable. She groaned and opened her eyes, looking around in confusion.

"How long was I out?"

The man chuckled and took a seat just outside of his home, his cargo still smacking her lips and yawning.

"Three minutes?"

She smiled. "Sounds like a good nap, pillow head."

"Pillow head? You better watch it or we'll see who's a better pillow, sleepy head."

She chuckled, but slowly realization donned on her. "What am I gonna do, Ralph?" she repeated in a whining tone.

He sighed. "Look kid. Maybe I don't trust Taffyta, but you clearly do. You gotta talk to her about this and maybe even get her friends involved. Those little children of the candy corn might be brats, but I bet they're worried about her too."

"They are worried," she said and repositioned herself to get more comfortable on his freakishly large head. "I don't think they like me very much, though."

"Ah, c'mon. This again? Who doesn't like a brat with dirty hair?"

She snorted. "Them, apparently."

"Hey now. Who's idea was it to change the random roster race to be fairer?"

At that, she smiled slightly. It was one of her first declarations as "president". No more golden entry coins which meant anyone could race.

"Me."

"That's right. That's gotta help and I'm sure you're exaggerating anyway. You're their princess."

"President," she corrected and he simply shrugged. "...Maybe I am overreacting, barf breath. I don't know."

Ralph was about to send her off, but he noted that she didn't even budge from his head. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he stood up and started walking back into Game Central.

They walked like that for a while with Vanellope drifting in and out of sleep, only vaguely aware of where they were heading. It took her all of three minutes to notice that they were walking down onto the rainbow bridge, the entry and exit way into Sugar Rush.

"B.. but, don't you wanna hang out?" she mumbled sleepily.

He smiled. "Any other time I'd love to hang out with ya. You're my buddy and my best friend," Ralph said. Her sleepy smile couldn't be any wider. "But I think a certain president hasn't been getting much sleep, hmm?"

She moaned. "Nah s- sleepy…"

"Uh huh, sure…"

She tried to protest more, but it was getting more and more difficult to remember just what she was complaining about. Sleep felt good and it suddenly felt even better when the warm embrace of a blanket seemed to envelop her entire body. Soon whoever had done that seemed to walk off and all Vanellope could hear was one other person breathing in and out and the soft aroma of root beer.

"Sleep well, kids."

 **I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support. Everyone in this little fandom is very understanding and helpful. Comments, criticism, ideas or reviews are always welcome. If any writers of WiR wish to join a Discord server of mine for just that (text only), then please send me a PM for details on getting invited. We're small but growing.**


	6. Chapter Six: A Good Morning

Vanellope's eyes cracked open while she moaned. Her brain felt sluggish and her mind was having immense difficulty just waking up. Her fingers gently brushed over the warm comforting feeling of her heavenly blanket and then she froze. She felt a lump, not just any lump, but one that moaned and breathed.

"What happened last night?"

She closed her eyes and tried to remember and then it all came crashing down like a ton of jawbreakers. The night before, walking Taffyta to her bedroom, tucking her in, the little fight with the other racers, all of it. She carefully unfurled the covers over her and made to stand up.

"What, did the barf breath tuck me in? Sheesh, Ralph, there's mushy and then there's cheesy."

Glancing over to her left, she had to admit that she herself wasn't much better in the mushy department.

 _She was crying her eyes out! What else was I gonna do, shove her aside in the mud?!_

Staring down at the strawberry themed racer, Vanellope really wasn't sure how to feel. She could still remember being shoved in the mud while she and her little bully gang wrecked her only kart. A kart which she had spent weeks building, no less. When she thought back to that moment, it was always so strange. Despite everything they did to her, despite the name-calling, shunning, pushing and all around treating her like something lesser. She wasn't mad at any of them. Not even Taffyta.

 _At least I don't think I am…_

Shaking those thoughts aside, she finally took in the details of the sleeping Taffy Butt and couldn't help but look on in pity. The girl's hair looked ragged and wild like she hadn't brushed it in days. Drool had leaked all over her side of the pillow, and if that wasn't enough, there was the unmistakable dampness around her eyes.

 _I didn't even know you could cry while sleeping…_

Hesitantly, she brushed Taffyta's hair out of her eyes as gently as she could.

 _She's really upset over this._ She thought back to the state of all her trophies and really it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Don't deserve them? What does she mean by that?"

Vanellope had watched all the racers on the tracks for years. She'd even secretly cheer a few on when she was in the mood (and they hadn't treated her too badly that week). Of all of them, Taffyta always seemed to have her eyes on the prize. She was a good racer, perhaps even one of the best. To Vanellope, it just didn't make any sense.

"Hmmm… to- too bright," Taffyta mumbled.

Vanellope jumped a bit and watched the previously drunk girl rather intently. The president very much doubted that she was even aware of her presence.

"Oh, um, here," she said and hopped off and quickly shut the candy laced blinds. "Better?"

The girl nodded and even smiled slightly. Vanellope watched the girl snuggle into her pillow after flipping it and almost seemed to drift off to sleep. She looked peaceful and Vanellope smiled a bit.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Taffyta's eyes shot open in shock, she looked over and met Vanellope's then yelped in shock falling over onto the floor in the process. The girl groaned in pain and rubbed her head.

"Um, morning?"

"...Not a good morning," Taffyta replied.

Vanellope offered her hand but the Taffy racer brushed it aside and stood up on shaky legs. No doubt the girl was still trying to figure out where she had been the night before and Vanellope really couldn't blame her for that. Taffyta gently rubbed her head a few times and sighed.

"T- Time is it?"

"Um, probably still early," Vanellope guessed. "How are you feeling?"

Still, in a rather groaning mood, Taffyta brushed the bangs out of her eyes and shrugged. "Like Ralph decided to use my head as a punching bag, for an hour."

Vanellope snorted. "You do jokes?"

The racer closed her eyes and seemed to shudder in pain. "Who said I was joking?"

Rolling her eyes, Vanellope patted her on the back. Taffyta didn't smile but didn't shrug off the gesture either.

"So, um, there's a bathroom behind that door," Vanellope said, but before she could even point, Taffyta had darted inside and locked the thing.

The president blinked and nodded. "Okay then."

Vanellope heard her shower turned on and nodded to that. "Well, least she's cleaning up."

There was a gentle knock on the door and she called out in response. "Come in!"

"Vanellope, er, President Vanellope," Sour Bill drolled. "Your guests are wondering on the state of Taffyta's health."

Quirking an eyebrow, Vanellope stared past the sour candy and spotted Candlehead, of all racers, standing there while nervously toying with her fingers.

"Uh, you can come in, Candle," she replied and patted her bed.

Beaming, the girl jumped over Sourbill and scooted onto her bed.

"Thanks!"

There was an awkward silence while Vanellope shifted on her bed to get more comfortable. "Uh, did you all sleep well?"

Candlehead considered the question for a second before shrugging. "S- sort of. Not that the beds weren't comfy or anything! I guess we just couldn't sleep, you know?"

Vanellope nodded while biting her lip and looking at the bathroom door, the shower had been running the entire time.

"Right. Um, yeah," she said rather lamely.

Without warning, Candlehead gently placed her hand on the girl's knee and looked up. "Hey, you been okay? You look super tired and stuff."

Vanellope closed her eyes and contemplated what to say. How much should she reveal? There were too many things bugging her, some she would hardly even admit to herself! Let alone a random racer.

 _Not random, she's Candlehead_ …

"I…" Trailing off, she took a very deep breath and continued. "You didn't see it, Candlehead."

The girl tilted her head. "See what?"

Vanellope cast a nervous glance at the door before continuing. "Taffyta," she said and immediately Candlehead stood at attention. "She was a mess. I don't… " the president bit her lip, still wondering how much she should say. "I don't know if she wants you all to know… all of this, yet."

Candlehead pouted and glared at her. "Vanellope…" she started in a rather warning sort of tone.

"No, I'm serious okay? That would be, just…" she trailed off again and slammed her fists into the bed. "Will ya just, you know, lay off it for now?! I'm not gonna say anything if _she_ doesn't want you all to know. And that's that," she finished with a huff, her arms crossed while looking away.

The candle atop the racer's head seemed to glow a dim red as she stood up. She scoffed, stood up and left the room without so much as a word. It took Vanellope all of three seconds to realize her mistake. The girl groaned and buried her head in a pillow just as the bathroom door was swinging open.

Vanellope didn't bother looking up, even when the bed ruffled and she could feel Taffyta lay down next to her.

"Um, the shower's free."

Vanellope rolled over on the pillow, glancing at Taffyta with a far off look. "Taffyta…"

"Nope. Look, it's been cool and I appreciate what you did for me last night, but I think I should head home and-"

Before Taffyta could even stand, Vanellope had grabbed her arm to keep her on the bed. "No. We're gonna have a little chat, Taffy."

The girl scoffed. "No thanks."

Vanellope narrowed her eyes.

"I wasn't asking. You either hear me out or… " She trailed off and tried to think of a suitable punishment while Taffyta merely stood with crossed arms. "Or, I'll ban you from racing for a week!"

Her widened in shock. "Y- you can't d- do that!" she stuttered.

"Wanna make it two?"

Taffyta scowled and slowly shook her head.

It was a rather strange situation. Most would assume Vanellope to be the youngest, given her height and overall mannerisms when it came to everything.

 _Technically, I am younger than them…_ Vanellope reminded herself. She had seen the code of each racer and, apparently, the programmers gave each Sugar Rush occupant varying age ranges for whatever reason. _They don't need to know that though…_

"Look, just hear me out and you can go home and maybe we can forget about this. Okay?"

The pouting racer continued to simply pout, though she did give a simple nod.

"You know I forgave you all, right?"

"Hmm…" she nodded and mumbled something barely audible.

"I really did! I promise! I'm not mad or upset or anything."

"..."

Vanellope sighed. "I… I think if anything, I'm relieved."

"Huh?"

"I just wanted to be a racer for so long. I thought I was going crazy or something. Like, why was I even in this game if I couldn't be allowed to race? You know?"

Taffyta took a deep, shuttering breathe but nodded all the same.

"You told me something in confidence, and I haven't told any of them, yet," she clarified. Taffyta shut her eyes and nodded. "Maybe… maybe I should tell you a secret of my own.

Vanellope stood up and made sure the coast was clear before gently shutting her door. "Do you remember when you were first turned on? When the game was first plugged in?"

Taffyta considered this question for a moment before shrugging. "Not really. I… I remember it happened. I know it did, but it was so long ago."

"I- I don't. I can't…" She tried to say and groaned before kicking her bed in frustration.

 _Why is this is hard to admit?! Stupid mushy feelings… being all… feel-ey._

"You don't what?"

"I don't. I can't remember ever being switched on. I didn't know I was your princess this whole time and… and I don't think I ever did," she admitted while nervously playing with her fingers. "Even when the game reset. It gave me that stupid dress, b- but I didn't feel like a princess. I never did."

The full ramifications of what Turbo had really done to them all hit Taffyta like a series of sweets seeker missiles. The "greatest racer ever" hadn't just messed with all of their memories and the code, she had ripped out Vanellope's purpose in the game and made it so she never even knew of it in the first place?! It just seemed too crazy for words.

"Heh. Um, there. Secret's out. Oh Sega," she mumbled and clutched her head. Taffyta watched as the president took a seat on the floor then raised her legs and clutched them with her arms for comfort. "I never told that to anyone before, Taffyta. Not even Ralph."

The other racer just stood there in a state of pure shock. It merely too much to bear, though thankfully she hadn't broken down and cried. Even if she _really_ wanted to. Everyone already knew of her cry baby status. Wasn't like it was a big secret. But she couldn't help but look down on Vanellope with outright pity. But now was not the time for tears.

She took a seat on the floor and copied the other girl in hugging her legs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Vanellope. I- I don't know what else to say."

The girl chuckled a bit. "You know I'm not unhappy, right? I have good friends, like Ralph and Felix. And I have all of you!"

Another snort. "Oh yeah, we're such good friends that we don't even invite you to parties or talk to ya much."

The second it came out of her mouth, she regretted ever thinking it. Vanellope looked down at her feet, looking rather uncomfortable.

Taffyta banged her head on the back of the mattress several times. "Sorry. That was… really stupid of me to say."

Vanellope simply nodded and spoke up, "If any of you know anything about me, it's that I hate being mushy and I don't like sharing my feelings. But there it is, out in the open. Um, now you say something?"

"Taffyta Muttonfudge, best known for spilling out and discussing her feelings."

"Heh. So what now? You just hold this in forever and we pretend nothing's wrong?"

The girl quickly stood up and dusted herself off. "Nothing is wrong. I just… I just had a little meltdown, okay?" she snapped.

"A _little_? You tried to… you… I saw you hurt yourself. You were off your gizzards on root beer and crying your eyes out!" she whispered harshly to her.

Again, Taffyta tried to leave and again Vanellope stopped her. "Can you at least promise something? But I warn you, it's gonna get mushy."

The strawberry racer yanked her arm away and scowled even deeper. "Or what? You gonna force me off the track if I don't comply?!"

"No. Just… talk to your friends if you feel this way again. Okay? Just promise me you will instead of going to Tapper's every night."

The girl rolled her eyes and nodded. "Kay. I promis-"

"Not to me, Taffy Butt. I warned ya, it's gonna get mushy. You have to promise _them_ all of them. All of your friends. That you'll trust them to help you when something's the matter." The president hesitated before saying one more thing. "Like Candlehead for example."

The president stood up on her bed and crossed her arms, waiting for a response.

Taffyta closed her eyes, feeling content to simply sit there and not think. Vanellope could sense that she may have struck a nerve, mentioning her best friend, but decided to remain silent.

Finally, the racer scoffed and stood up herself. "Are they here or something?"

"Who- Oh. Yes, they've been waiting for you to wake up."

Vanellope waved her arms over toward the door, inviting her to come. Hesitating for what felt like an eternity, the pink racer eventually groaned and nodded.

"Let's just get this over with," she mumbled, sounding very annoyed.

"That's the spirit, Taffy!" Vanellope exclaimed while pumping her fists.

"Programmers, give me strength…"

* * *

Another day and another finished race. It felt so strange not being on the track, but something in the back of her head urged her to keep coming back to such a strange place. It was dark on the inside, but strangely warm and welcoming the deeper she trekked. It hadn't exactly occurred to her to even glance at her surroundings before; it was simply a place to visit and sleep when the need came. A quiet and comforting home to rest in when she wasn't racing.

A home. _Her_ home.

She blinked in confusion and suddenly stopped walking. Something about that thought seemed strange to her.

 _Is this my home? Is this where I belong?_

But was belonging to something, to somewhere, something that she truly desired? Did it really matter?

 _Yes!_

The thought came out of nowhere, but she couldn't really argue with it. It just made so much sense. Smiling a bit, the strange girl walked further into the caverns, following the now familiar sound of bubbling cola and crackling candy.

Smiling a bit, she neared the now familiar bed with its strange candy wrapper blankets and a random assortment of other treats, wrappers and other candied oddities which littered the surface of her bed.

 _Her_ bed.

It wasn't the prettiest sight she had ever seen, but it was rather comfy and it was certainly hers. Sighing, she carefully climbed onto the waiting bed, though she was forced to kick up from the ground a few times given the immense size and height of the thing. She rolled over and stared up at the ceiling while enjoying the warm glow of the lava which washed over everything.

 _Why does this feel so… safe? Or familiar?_

It was a mystery she aimed to solve, but the clues alluded her for now. Shrugging, she rolled over again and drifted off to sleep. Mysteries could wait; nap time was far more important in her eyes.


	7. Chapter Seven: Taffy Bonding

Taffyta was feeling quite distinctly not like Taffyta, which seemed like quite the understatement. The fire that normally breathed through herself and radiated from her burning eyes just weren't there. She was frightened, nervous, and was feeling like a complete wreck, among other feelings and emotions that she just didn't feel like admitting to even herself.

Vanellope stood behind her with crossed arms while the remaining racers stood in front, waiting with bated breath for the girl to do anything but stay silent. Taffyta felt her lips tremble and her mouth move several times, but she quickly thought better of saying anything. After several awkward moments of this, someone broke the silence.

"Taffyta, they just want to know that you're okay."

The pink-tinted girl nodded to the president's words. It would be nice to tell everyone that she was okay and that things could go back to normal, but the mystery menace made that seem impossible. Things were _not_ okay in Sugar Rush and Taffyta did not feel alright in the slightest.

Still, she decided to push through it. _Fake it till you're done girl… or is it make it? Whatever,_ she thought.

"Look."

There, she said something, and, as expected, the other racers gasped and leaned in to hear the juicy news. It just made her feel more embarrassed.

"Look. I don't like talking about this kind of stuff," she stated rather firmly. She looked up and noticed that Candlehead was waving her hand forward, trying to encourage her to continue.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she did. "Ever since Prin- uh, _President_ Vanellope came back and our memories came back I've been feeling really, uh, bad. Like, really bad," she said rather lamely. The other children did their best to look away from Vanellope. It was obvious they all felt bad about it.

"And I've been trying to forget about it. I've been… drinking lots of Root Beer at Tapper's and it just- just made it worse," she said, though at the end she started to mumble. The girl stomped her foot and started to already feel more shameful than she ever thought possible.

"Can we just not do this right now?" she whispered back to Vanellope in a pleading tone.

The girl shook her head and surprised Taffyta by grabbing her hand and squeezing it, which felt good.

"Taffyta hurt herself last night, everyone. She wasn't herself and she's been feeling really guilty about how she… well, treated _me_ over the years. She broke her trophies because she believes she doesn't deserve them."

 _This is the most embarrassing moment in my life, and that includes crying in front of everyone on the track_ , Taffyta thought. But, she couldn't deny that having Vanellope speak for her felt… nice. _How can she be that brave?_

"That's crazy talk, Taffyta! You're the best racer we have! Um… n- no offense, Vanellope," Rancis said in a nervous tone.

The president smirked. "None taken, peanut boy. We all strive to be the best on the track, but I think Taffyta's always been a cut above the rest. She's brave and isn't afraid to take risks on the track. You may not feel it, Taffy Head, but I think you deserve those trophies more than anyone else."

It was probably the most sincere thing that Vanellope had _ever_ said to any of them over the years. Taffyta couldn't help but sniffle a little, though she kept the fire in her eyes there, burning away the tears which threatened to fall at any moment.

"We're all so worried about you. We're your friends and friends don't let themselves get hurt, Taffy. Do… do you have something to say?"

"Well I… I don't really know-" _What to say_ , she couldn't help but finish in her head just as someone burst through the castle doors and made everyone jump in shock. Whoever it was, Taffyta figured it bought her some time so she was very grateful.

"P- Prin- err- President! We found her!"

Taffyta looked past the crowd and spotted King Candy's old guards, Wynnchel and Duncan, two donut theme guards designed for the game.

Vanellope walked past the crowd and stared at the two. "You found, uh, who?"

The cops shared a look with one another before Duncan stepped forward. "We thought you might want to know the whereabouts of the Mystery Racer and we found her."

Instantly everyone in the room perked up, even Taffyta who had been hanging at the back and hoping to make a silent escape back to her home.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, Sprinkles, where'd you find her?!" Vanellope asked, sounding a tad annoyed.

"She's been using, uh, well your old hideout as a hideout, mam."

Vanellope and the other racers blinked in unison.

"Shoulda saw that coming, I mean Sugar Rush isn't that big…" Vanellope mumbled to herself.

"Well, w- why didn't you arrest her?!" A few racers practically screamed, which was followed by several others murmuring and nodding in confirmation.

Wynnchel stepped forward and removed his hat. "Because she hasn't broken any rules or laws yet. She's just, uh… sleeping there. She actually looked kinda, uh, I dunno… peaceful?"

Vanellope smacked the front of her face with her tiny hands and slowly brought them down in an exasperated manner. "J- just bring her here or something. Okay?" Vanellope ordered, but again the two cops shared a look and slowly shook their heads.

"We're not gonna force her to come. You said this was no longer a dictatorship, your, uh, presidentess? Whatever you want to be called, the point is we can't just force someone to do what we want, even if you order it. Sorry, Vanellope."

The racers stared at the two cops in bewilderment before slowly turning back to face their president.

"Oh jawbreakers, they got me there," Vanellope replied with a huff.

"Fine, you won't take her in. C'mon, gang, let's go!" Jubileena said while pounding her fists into her hands. The others all cheered and followed her through the castle doors and out of Taffyta's view.

 _I can't believe I'm thinking this, but thank programmers for the stupid Mystery Menace_ , Taffyta thought and sighed with relief. Then she blinked and looked up. As it turned out, not everyone had decided to leave with Vanellope and one Candlehead staying behind, both staring at the racer with raised brows. Taffyta gulped.

Candlehead held her arms in a cross while glaring up at her friend. Deep down, Taffyta wished she had just stayed in bed.

* * *

The group of racers rushed off in their karts, ignoring the shouts of the two donut officers. They'd had enough of the Mystery Menace and it was time to band together to put a stop to her. They had the gear, they had the will and they had their karts. Just what did she have? A candy volcano and a freaky looking bike, as far as they were concerned, it would be no match. This was what Jubileena thought as she led the pack further and further into Sugar Rush while gripping her steering wheel as tight as she could.

 _Does she think she can sleep away while we suffer?! Nuts to that!_

They all rounded a corner and suddenly the massive volcano came into view. Knowing full well where to enter, Jubileena rushed off ahead, barreling headfirst into the volcano wall. _Just under the lollipops._

The other racers followed and rushed straight through the false wall. A strange noise followed by a glowing blue light washed over their cars as the environment switched from a happy, carefree sight to a dark cave that was only dimly lit by boiling hot cola. Their engines slowly shut off, one by one while the lead racer gulped a bit.

She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What is that…?"

The others sniffed as well, all feeling quite unnerved. "Sour candy?"

"Ew!" A few screamed in response as they held their noses in a vain attempt to stop the offending stench from reaching them.

"Shh!" The leader said in a hushed whisper. "We don't want her knowing we're here. We gotta, you know, get the jump on her!"

Rancis gave the cherry themed racer an annoyed stare before speaking. "Really? We came rushing in with our karts on, dumb dumb. I think she knows."

Pouting, Jubileena marched forward and nearly butted her head to the boy. "Don't call me stupid, Rancis!"

The boy jetted forward and actually did butt heads while scowling. "I didn't! I called you a dumb dumb, dumb dumb!"

"Why you-"

"Uh, g- guys," Minty tried to get out, but at that point, the other children were cheering on either Rancis or Jubileena who weren't exactly acting friendly to one another. The former of which got into a fighting stance while the latter continued to rant and taunt the poor boy.

Minty focused up at a nearby ledge to a dark looking figure while she nervously played with her hands. "G- guys…" she whispered, but again no one heard her.

"I've seen better racers on the kiddie track, peanut boy!"

"Well I've-"

"Guys!" Minty finally screamed which made the others jump in surprise.

"What?!" they all screamed back in unison. Minty pointed a shaking finger up at the dark figure while the others quickly turned around to face it.

The figure stepped forward into the light. The rustling of black leather clothing could be heard while the Mystery Girl's boots cling and clanged on the volcano floor. Everyone's eyes widened in shock while the girl leaned down a bit.

"Boo!"

The other racers all screamed and ran out toward their karts, tripping over one another and scrambling to get out of the volcano as quickly as they could while a fit of laughing giggles could be heard echoing throughout the mountain.

 **Authors Notes ( really needs blog features...)**

 **Quick Update on Me:** And there we have it, an actual update. Some may be wondering why it took me this long and if I'm even writing these things, well work can be quite annoying. But with all of this nasty COVID business going on I've been forced to stay home from work and I have a lot more free time.

 **Reflections of a Character:** To anyone who reads my other works, Reflections of a Character is getting there I'm just sort of stuck. Also been toying around with Fallout 76 far too much after its latest update which is, of course, relevant to Reflections. I am a tad sad that they decide to keep in some of the robot NPCs and tie them to the story. I could have sworn they wanted to go full-on reboot which is why I took a small gamble and made Rose a human character. But oh well, lesson learned. A real update for it should be coming soon... I hope!

 **Taffyta's Feelings** : On another side note, I posted a brand new story that uh well I sort of knew going into it but I don't think anyone is interested. It's up in the air if I'll continue it, but for those who are curious, it's a sort of tale that explores the thoughts and feelings of children. Particularly Taffyta and Vanellope and how they deal with being sort of alone in their arcade world. Though the main reason why I think no one wants to keep reading is the nature of the story deals with very childish things and it is probably a tad cringy to some. I re-worked the chapters that I had several times, trying to make it all work. While I have no delusions that everyone is interested in the subject matter, I do think that some may find it appealing to read, I'll just have to wait and see.

 **Choices of a Character:** As for Choices, I do have quite a few plans and I will never give up on it. I just hope I can keep a good writing pace since I seem to fall into nasty writing traps and am worried that I'm using my newly found free time quite poorly. I sort of had to cut this chapter short and I am sorry for that, but some is better than none. Let me know what you all think!

And, as always, if anyone wishes to join a Wreck-It Ralph based Discord server where we discuss writing, gaming, and anything else then feel free to send me a PM.

 _Stay_ _Sweet!_


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